By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Ray Robinson settled for a majority draw with an undefeated fighter Saturday night for the second time in two months.

The southpaw from Philadelphia was more active than British prospect Josh Kelly. He had trouble landing clean shots on the elusive Kelly, however, and none of the three judges scored their 10-rounder for him on the Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. undercard at Madison Square Garden.

Judge Guido Cavalleri scored Kelly a 96-95 winner in a welterweight fight during which neither fighter landed an abundance of flush punches. Cavalleri was overruled by judges Frank Lombardi and Waleska Roldan, both of whom scored the action even (95-95, 95-95).

“He’s the champ and they say you have to out-work the champ,” Robinson said, referring to Kelly’s secondary WBA international 147-pound title. “That’s what I felt like I did.”

Robinson (24-3-2, 12 KOs) feels the same way about his previous fight. He thinks he beat undefeated welterweight contender Egidjius Kavaliauskas, but their 10-rounder also was declared a majority draw March 30 in Philadelphia.

Two judges scored their encounter even as well (95-95, 95-95). One judge scored their fight 97-93 for Robinson, whose movement and southpaw stance troubled Lithuania’s Kavaliauskas (21-0-1, 17 KOs).

Kelly, meanwhile, suffered a setback in a professional career that had developed quickly after Kelly represented England at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. While tremendous defensively Saturday night, Kelly (9-0-1, 6 KOs) rarely threw a jab and didn’t catch Robinson with many effective punches.

Kelly trailed on the scorecards of Lombardi and Roldan entering the final round (86-85, 86-85). Cavalleri had it even entering the 10th round (86-86).

All three judges scored the 10th round for Kelly.

Kelly and Robinson threw more punches during the ninth round, yet neither fighter could connect with anything impactful.

A straight left hand by Robinson landed about 1:15 into the eighth round. Kelly connected with a straight right hand when there was just under a minute to go in the eighth.

Kelly spent much of the first minute of the seventh round backed into his own corner, slipping punches as Robinson fired away at him.

Robinson threw a lot of punches, particularly uppercuts during the early portion of the sixth round. Kelly’s defense still was tight during the sixth round, though, and Robinson didn’t land many effective punches.

Robinson went after Kelly’s body early in the fifth round, but Kelly blocked most of those shots. A left uppercut by Robinson landed with about 1:15 to go in the fifth.

Robinson remained the more active fight in the fourth round. He had difficulty landing clean shots on his elusive opponent, but Kelly didn’t connect with many flush shots, either.

A left hook by Kelly connected just before the midway point of the second round. Robinson landed a right hook and a right uppercut toward the end of the second round.

Kelly’s combination caught Robinson with about a minute to go in the first round. Robinson landed a counter left hook in that exchange as well.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.