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Belfast’s Kaoimhin Agairko’s world title bid against IBF light-middleweight champion Josh Kelly has been confirmed to take place in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, July 25.
Anthony Joshua’s return to the ring will be fought on the undercard against Christian Prenga at the Jeddah Superdome.
as BBC Sport NI published in MaySunderland’s Kelly will make his first defense against Agyarko, having won the belt against Bakhram Murtzaliev in January.
Initially, Aguiarco was scheduled to face Brandon Adams in the final eliminator in April, but The American collapsed before weighing in And unable to fight, the IBF then proceeded to order another final elimination between Agyarko and Murtzaliev.
However, with Kelly voluntarily given the option of first defense, an agreement to face Agairco was made official on Monday.
“I was heartbroken at the time (when the Adams fight was cancelled) and I didn’t know what was going to happen after that, whether I was going to fight in another eliminator or fight for the title, or be left on the sidelines again,” Agyarko told BBC Sport NI.
“I’ve just come from a 14-week camp, spent thousands of pounds away from my friends, my missus and family, so luckily there is a silver lining and my manager (Paul Reidy) has done a deal to end this fight.
“It was disappointing that the IBF tried to order another final eliminator against Murtzaliev even though I did what was asked of me: showed up and 25 minutes before I was told I wasn’t going to fight (against Adams).
“There was a silver lining in everything working out in mysterious ways. I truly believed that what was in store for me would not pass me by and it showed.”
Agyarko’s last outing was a split-decision win over Ishmael Davies at Windsor Park in Belfast in December, with Kelly making it eight wins in a row, including a title win since his only career loss to David Avanesian in 2021.
Hamzah Shiraz’s first defense of his WBO super-middleweight title against Germany’s Simon Zachenhuber is also confirmed for the bill.
