Edward Kelly. Photo by Mark Giongco/INQUIRER.net
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Filipino featherweight Edward Kelly knows his win over Christian Lee four months ago has an asterisk beside it.
Kelly was awarded a victory after Lee was disqualified due to an illegal suplex in the opening round of their first fight.
The 34-year-old Kelly is eager to prove he can beat Lee the conventional way in their rematch on Saturday in ONE: Eternal Glory here.
“A win is a win but it’s like our fight didn’t have the right closure so I’m willing to show that I really won,” Kelly told reporters in Filipino Friday.
Kelly also said he likes that Lee is the favorite to win so that him winning would make the victory much sweeter.
“I like it more when I’m the underdog. It makes a victory more satisfying.”
Kelly has split his last four fights but he believes a definitive win over Lee, who is being groomed for a title rematch against featherweight champion Martin Nguyen, would be a big step towards a title shot.
“If I’m not mistaken, Nguyen will be watching our fight live and if I win over Lee, I guess I will only need to win one to two more fights to get a crack at Nguyen.”
Four of Kelly’s teammates at Team Lakay have world titles wrapped around their waists and he can’t wait to have his own.
“They’ve been pressuring me, telling me, ‘The featherweight title is the only thing missing,’” Kelly said with a smile.
“But I take that as an inspiration. I’m really well-motivated to show them. I want to prove to myself that I can do it and I hope to start showing it on Saturday.”