By Peter Gilbert

“I know Adam has got plans for that fight to happen and if the fight happens it will be great,” says undefeated welterweight star Kelly.

Josh Kelly is hoping to face David Avanesyan in a summer showdown, after illness scuppered a December dust-up between the pair.

Kelly was due to fight the Russian on the undercard of Kell Brook-Michael Zerafa in Sheffield, but pulled out just hours before the fight due to a virus.

Avanesyan’s dealt with the disappointment by heading out to Spain to defeat European welterweight champion Kerman Lejarraga in March, while Kelly returned to the ring with a shutout win over Przemyslaw Runowski at The O2 in April.

Bad blood boiled over between the two camps following Kelly’s withdrawal, but the Adam Booth-trained fighter hopes common sense prevails and remains adamant the 30-year-old is on his wishlist.

“Yes, 100 per cent,” answered Kelly when asked whether Avanesyan remains a target by Andy Clark on Ringside’s Toe2Toe podcast.

“I know Adam has got plans for that fight to happen and if the fight happens it will be great.

“I wanted that fight at the start of the year but obviously David didn’t want to wait until around March time so he went and won the European title.

“There’s nothing much I could have done about that but I guess now it’s pushing on with this next fight and then in the summertime we’ll see what happens.”

Kelly floored Runowski three times to defend his WBA international title with a unanimous verdict after winning all 10 rounds, but a right-hand injury prevented him from securing a stoppage.

“The fight went well. I thought I probably could have finished him in the second round,” explained Kelly.

“I hurt my hand in the fourth or fifth round but I didn’t really start feeling it properly until around the seven or eight mark and then in rounds nine and 10 my hand was gone totally.

“I could really toss it, I was tossing it and it was like numb. Then towards the end I hit him with an uppercut and as I hit him pain just shot all the way through my hand and I knew it was gone so I thought I better hold off a little bit.

“His head was a lot harder than I thought it would have been!”

Article courtesy of Peter Gilbert & Sky Sports