Benjamin Kelleher Explained

Benjamin Kelleher
Birth Name:Benjamin Karl Kelleher
Birth Date:18 August 1987
Birth Place:Auckland, New Zealand
Residence:Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
Nationality:Australian
Height Cm:188
Weight Kg:90.1
Weight Class:Heavyweight (Boxing)
Cruiserweight (Boxing)
Super Cruiserweight (Kickboxing)
Cruiserweight (Kickboxing)
Light Heavyweight (MMA)
Middleweight (MMA)
Box Win:15
Box Kowin:4
Box Loss:5
Box Koloss:3
Box Draw:2
Mma Kowin:5
Mma Subwin:4
Mma Decwin:4
Mma Koloss:4
Mma Subloss:5
Mma Decloss:2
Am Win:1
Am Subwin:1
Am Loss:3
Am Subloss:1
Boxrec:771314
Sherdog:52815

Benjamin Karl Kelleher (born 18 August 1987) is a New Zealand-born Australian combat sports fighter where he competes in professional boxing, mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Muay Thai.[1]

Kelleher has fought over 80 times across all sports codes. In boxing, some of his most notable wins including winning the Australian National title against Jayden Joseph[2] [3] and the IBF Pan Pacific regional title against Patrick Ferguson.[4]

Kickboxing

On 27 April 2013, Kelleher fought Ray Dimachki for the WKN Australian super cruiserweight title under K1 rules.[5] Kelleher won the fight by Majority Decision.[6] On 2 August 2014, Kelleher fought New Zealander Ramegus Te Wake for the WKBF South Pacific Cruiserweight title.[7] Kelleher won the fight by knockout. In November 2014, Kelleher took on Chris Birch.[8] Kelleher won the fight by unanimous decision.[9] Kelleher retired from kickboxing after snapping his tibia and fibula, however, after two years from kickboxing, he returned to win a fight against Aaron Grigolon by unanimous decision in 2016.[10]

Kickboxing titles

Mixed martial arts

On 15 September 2012, Kelleher fought for Australian MMA Middleweight title.[11] Originally the fight was booked against Vik Grujic, however, it was later changed to Leon Johns. Kelleher won the fight by TKO. On 12 July 2013, Kelleher took on Daniel Way. At this point Kelleher was on a five fight winning streak across Kickboxing and MMA.[12] Kelleher lost the fight by split decision. On 17 May 2014, Kelleher took on Dan Kelly for the AFC title.[13] The winner would also get a possible fight with UFC in the future. Kelleher lost the fight by submission.[14]

MMA titles

Boxing

In December 2016, as well as being Anthony Mundine sparring partner while Mundine prepares for his fight against Danny Green, Kelleher also fought Daniel Russell on 3 December.[15] The fight ended in a Split Decision draw. On 7 November 2017, Kelleher was scheduled to fight Brett Petters in a rematch, after their original fight ended in a draw on 18 March.[16] Unfortunately the fight did not happen. On 13 December 2017, Kelleher was scheduled to fight Daniel Russell in a rematch on the Jeff Horn world title defence undercard.[17] Unfortunately this fight did not happen.

After a successful win over New Zealander Nikolas Charalampous for the ANBF Australasian title, Kelleher fought Jai Opetaia for the first time in January 2018 for the Australian National Cruiserweight title.[18] Kelleher lost the fight by TKO stoppage in the third round.[19] After a successful win over Robert Ferguson, Kelleher took on Jayden Joseph for his second attempt at the Australian National Cruiserweight title in July 2018.[20] [21] Kelleher won the fight by unanimous decision with judges scoring judges 97–94, 97–93, and 99–91.[22] Kelleher went on to defeat kickboxer Brad Traynor in a boxing fight.[23] In September 2018, Kelleher was sparring with famous Rugby star Quade Cooper in hopes that Quade Cooper would fight on the Jeff Horn vs Anothony Mundine undercard, However, Cooper did not fight in the end.[24]

After his successful Australian title defence against Uria Afamasaga, in the biggest fight of his career, Keheller fought American Patrick Ferguson for the vacant IBF Pan Pacific Cruiserweight title.[4] Kelleher won the fight by Unanimous decision, winning his first major regional title.[25] Kelleher went to fight Quintin Carey.[26] Kelleher won the fight by unanimous decision.[27]

In November 2019, Kelleher sparred with Barry Hall to prepare for Halls fight against Paul Gallen.[28] Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Kelleher was not able to secure a fight until October 2020. Kelleher was originally scheduled to fight David Light in August 2020, however due to the Pandemic in New Zealand, the fight was called off.[29] In the second time of his career, Kelleher took on Jai Opetaia but this time for the WBO Global and IBF Asia Oceania Cruiserweight titles.[30] Kelleher lost the fight by TKO in the sixth round.[31] After a win over Waikato Falefehi, Kelleher took on former world title challenger to try capture the Australian National Cruiserweight title for the second time of his career.[32] Kelleher lost the fight by fifth-round TKO.[33]

On 19 March 2022, Kelleher took on New Zealand-born Australian Peter Sa'lesui. Sa'lesui won the fight by Majority Decision. The two fought again on 7 May 2022, but this time for the vacant IBO Oceania-Orient Cruiserweight title.[34] Sa'lesui won the rematch by Split Decision.

Boxing titles

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
22Lose Peter Sa'lesui87 May 2022
21Lose15–4–2 Peter Sa'lesui819 March 2022
20Win15–3–2 Waikato Falefehi54 September 2021
19Lose14–3–2 Mark Flanagan5 (10), 26 June 2021
18Win14–2–2 Waikato Falefehi65 March 2021
17Lose13–2–2 Jai Opetaia6 (10), 22 October 2020
16Win13–1–2 Quintin Carey621 September 2019
15Win12–1–2 Patrick Ferguson108 June 2019
14Win11–1–2 Uria Afamasaga1016 March 2019
13Win10–1–2 Brad Traynor44 August 2018
12Win9–1–2 Jayden Joseph107 July 2018
11Win8–1–2 Robert Ferguson421 April 2018
10Lose7–1–2 Jai OpetaiaTKO3 (10), 17 January 2018
9Win7–0–2 Nikolas CharalampousUD102 December 2017
8Win6–0–2 Chris McClungTKO2 (4), 6 October 2017
7Win5–0–2 Filipo Fonoti MasoeUD523 September 2017
6Win4–0–2 Stephen AnakTKO5 (8), 27 May 2017
5Draw3–0–2 Brett Peters418 March 2017
4Win3–0–1 Satria Antasena3 (8), 17 February 2017
3Draw2–0–1 Daniel RussellSD53 December 2016
2Win2–0 Adam Lovelock61 October 2016
1Win1–0 Filipo Fonoti Masoe4 (4) 13 August 2016

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tapology profile. 5 April 2022. Tapology. en.
  2. Web site: Benjamin Kelleher result announcement profile. 5 April 2022. Facebook. en.
  3. Web site: The boxing scene in Australia. 5 April 2022. Max Boxing. en.
  4. Web site: Fantastic Five go for gold on Coast as Paro chases world title shot. 5 April 2022. The Courier Mail. en.
  5. Web site: Territorians aiming to take their fight to the nation . NT News. en-US.
  6. Web site: Kelleher kicks a winner . NT News. en-US.
  7. Web site: Kickboxers in battle royale . NT News. en-US.
  8. Web site: Kings ready for rumble . NT News. en-US.
  9. Web site: Dynamic Darwin boxers kick butt at fight night . NT News. en-US.
  10. Web site: Back from 'dark times' for a win . The Courier Mail. en-US.
  11. Web site: Butterworth. Ian . 14 September 2012 . Fighting for right to title. 11 April 2022. NT News. en.
  12. Web site: Butterworth. Ian . 12 July 2013 . Kelleher is ready to fight all the Way. 11 April 2022. NT News. en.
  13. Web site: Shortcut from KFC to UFC. 11 April 2022. NT News. en.
  14. Web site: Hex Fight Series 9 Recap: Jim Crute remains undefeated, submits Ben Kelleher. 5 April 2022. Fight News Australia. 24 June 2017 . en.
  15. Web site: Mundine hires Brissie tough nuts for sparring . 6 April 2022. Gold Coast Bulletin. en-US.
  16. Web site: Peters eager to put an end to Kelleher's reign . 6 April 2022. The Chronicle. en-US.
  17. Web site: Gadaleta raises hell . 6 April 2022. The Cairns Post. en-US.
  18. Web site: JAI OPETAIA TO FIGHT BEN KELLEHER ON MUNDINE V BROWNE . 6 April 2022. World Boxing News. 16 January 2018 . en-US.
  19. Web site: Jai Opetaia keeps unbeaten boxing record . 6 April 2022. SBS News. en-US.
  20. Web site: Big Ben' Kelleher v Jayden 'Plugger' Nichols for Australian cruiserweight boxing title . 6 April 2022. The Courier Mail. en-US.
  21. Web site: Nichols primed for Aussie title defence . 6 April 2022. Mercury (Hobart). en-US.
  22. Web site: Kelleher takes Cruiserweight Title . 6 April 2022 . Australian National Boxing Federation . en-US . https://web.archive.org/web/20180814202836/https://anbf.org.au/kelleher-takes-cruiserweight-title/ . 14 August 2018 . dead.
  23. Web site: Bradley Traynor: My toughest opponent is myself . Fight News Australia. 19 August 2018 . en-US.
  24. Web site: Boxing feast on the card . NT News. en-US.
  25. Web site: Exciting Aussie twins Andrew and Jason Moloney return to action Saturday night, and other boxing news down under . Max Boxing. en-US.
  26. Web site: McKean's got a heavyweight hit-list . The Courier Mail. en-US.
  27. Web site: Quintin carey vs ben kelleher . Youtube. en-US.
  28. Web site: This has Hallmark for good fight . The Courier Mail. en-US.
  29. Web site: Horn vs Tszyu: Issac Hardman to fight Jamie Weetch on August 26 . The Sporting News. 14 August 2021 . en-US.
  30. Web site: Jai Opetaia looking to continue path to world title against Ben Kelleher . The Sporting News. 15 August 2021 . en-US.
  31. Web site: CRUISERWEIGHT JAI OPETAIA IMPROVES TO 20–0 WITH 16TH STOPPAGE . World Boxing News. 24 October 2020 . en-US.
  32. Web site: Flanagan-Kelleher clash Saturday . Fight News. 24 June 2021 . en-US.
  33. Web site: Flanagan and Sonny Bill victorious . Fight News. 26 June 2021 . en-US.
  34. Web site: New Zealander Vs New Zealander Rematch For Boxing Title . Scoop. en-US.

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