Josh Kelly made rapid work of Romania’s Flavius Biea, needing little more than two minutes to stop him Friday inside the Newcastle Arena in Newcastle, England.
Junior middleweight contender Kelly made a lightning start, working his left hand and jabbing and hooking, even bringing an early right uppercut through the middle.
Not long after, Kelly feinted a jab but flashed over two left hooks, and Biea toppled to the canvas. Referee Reece Carter waved it off as Biea struggled back to his feet.
The time of stoppage was 2 minutes, 3 seconds of Round 1.
Biea is now 24-2 (12 KOs), while the Adam Booth-trained Kelly moved to 17-1-1 (9 KOs).
“I expected longer, but I read him and timed him early. If you give me openings early, I’ll take them,” said Kelly. “I’m sharp and I can punch. If there’s a big domestic fight, like [Conor] Benn, then I’d take that, or a big world title fight. I’m in my prime now, so let me run.”
Tom Welland, Wasserman’s junior lightweight prospect, faced a late replacement in Reuquen Cona Facundo Arce and claimed a 59-55 decision.
Arce started the fight with ambition, but by the end of the second Welland was starting to get on top.
Welland was more often than not cast as the pitcher and Arce the catcher, taking shots on his arms and gloves through a tame third and fourth round. Welland was better in the fifth, but Arce was game and kept dispensing his pesky jab. Although he bled from the nose, there was no sign that Arce was going anywhere.
Welland tried to make a dent with his left hook in the last, often leading with it, but Arce was on his bike for most of the round and stayed out of trouble.
Arce let a right hand go on an unguarded Welland after the final bell and was escorted to his corner by the referee, protesting that he had not heard the gong. Welland, a 20-year-old from Essex, England, for whom the Sauerlands and Wasserman Boxing have high hopes, is now 9-0 (5 KOs).
Argentina’s Arce is now 18-20-2 (7 KOs).
Northumberland’s well-supported and Billy Nelson-trained Cyrus Pattinson is now 8-1 (5 KOs) following a win over Northumberland welterweight Joe Garside.
Garside’s face was marking up by the third and he was badly cut above his left eye. It was fast-paced and entertaining and although Garside kept throwing, the hurtful punches were being landed by Pattinson and he was given a count for turning his back in the fifth. His face was a bloody mess. He launched some big right hands in reply but eventually the towel came in from his corner.
Time of the stoppage was 1.33 of the fifth.
Garside is now 8-2-3.
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.