'I had seven caffeine shots in 15 minutes' - from hypochondria to title shot

Josh Kelly has always presented as confident but looks can be deceiving.

In 2021, Kelly appeared to have the world at his feet as he prepared to face David Avanesyan for the European welterweight title.

Kelly was undefeated in 10 fights as a professional and had his sights set on the top tier of the division.

During that run, which included six stoppage wins, Kelly – nicknamed ‘Pretty Boy’ – caught the eye by dancing around the ring and taunting opponents.

But behind the scenes all was not well.

He was battling with chronic hypochondria – known formally as illness anxiety disorder – a condition that is characterised by an excessive, disabling fear of having a serious undiagnosed medical illness.

“I should have seen it coming even before that fight [against Avaneysan]” Kelly told BBC Sport.

“I used to go into fight week and have Lemsips stacked up – I’d have three or four a day and it was for no reason apart from thinking what if I get sick?

“That was just because I was putting pressure on myself to perform the best. I was thinking that everything had to be perfect for me to perform my best.”

In pursuit of perfection, Kelly, who faces Bakhram Murtazaliev for the IBF light-middleweight world title in Newcastle on Saturday, was sabotaging his chances of success.

Anxiety around falling ill led to sleepless nights and Kelly recalls getting a “maximum of 11 or 12 hours” sleep during the entire week of the Avaneysan fight, which remains the only defeat of his career.

“One of the days when I was going to bed I looked at the mini bar, broke it open and got the two small bottles of whiskey to see if it would knock me out but it didn’t do much,” Kelly said.

“It wasn’t like I was chronic drinking but it was just trying to find anything to help.”

Kelly was unable to sleep the night before the fight and took desperate measures shortly before walking to the ring.

“To get out of the changing room I had seven shots of caffeine in the space of 10 or 15 minutes – I felt like my heart was racing but my head was somewhere else,” Kelly said.

“I’m normally laughing, smiling and in a good mood but if you watch that ringwalk you can see in my eyes that I was just somewhere else.

“Even when I was fighting it felt like a blur and I’m normally such a conscious fighter, taking notes in the corner and switched on.”

‘Spinning out into other areas of my life’

Kelly represented Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics in Rio but lost against eventual gold medal winner Daniyar Yeleussinov in the last 16.

He turned professional the following year and spent the early stages of his career at welterweight before moving up to light-middleweight.

Now a father of two, Kelly, who welcomed his first son in 2018, admits parenthood further exacerbated his condition

“I have two young boys and I was always asking ‘does he need to wash his hands?, ‘does he need to do this or that?’ I wouldn’t touch certain things and wanted to put gloves on all the time,” Kelly said.

“I don’t let it impact me now but it was spinning out into areas other areas of my life and I had to evaluate it.”

Friends, family and faith got Kelly back on track

Kelly won a bronze medal at the 2015 European Games in Baku [Getty Images]

Kelly took 16 months away from the ring after his loss against Avaneysan to address his condition.

He sought out some professional help but leant largely on friends, family and his faith to change his mentality.

“My friends helped but God helped a lot,” Kelly said.

“I spoke to certain people and eventually found this guy Steven Green who is a friend and mentor of mine now.

“I was on a Zoom call with him about property and he said he could help with my mindset in boxing. I didn’t believe it until we did some deep chatting and he opened my mind up.”

Kelly – trained by Adam Booth – marked his return with a stoppage victory against Peter Kramer and has excelled at domestic and European level.

Wins over current British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion Troy Williamson and light-middleweight Commonwealth and British champion Ishmael Davis sent a clear signal of intent.

Now, on a seven-fight win streak, Kelly has been propelled to the world title stage and faces undefeated Russian Martazaliev for light-middleweight glory at the Utilita Arena.

“Boxing training is probably 90% physical and 10% mental but it flips the other way on fight night and I’ve got that nailed down,” Kelly said.

“I’m that strong mentally now that no one can come near that and I’m locked off. I don’t just believe it but I know it to be true.

“The time I had off was needed so I could sort myself out and fulfil my potential. Now I feel strong. I’m not cutting as much weight and I feel mature.

“Back then if you asked me whether I’d be competing for a world title now I would say you were crazy.

“It’s about faith, belief and putting trust in the right people around me.”