Benjamin Kelleher
BornBenjamin Karl Kelleher
(1987-08-18) 18 August 1987
Auckland, New Zealand
ResidenceIpswich, Queensland, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight90.1 kg (199 lb; 14 st 3 lb)
DivisionHeavyweight (Boxing)
Cruiserweight (Boxing)
Super Cruiserweight (Kickboxing)
Cruiserweight (Kickboxing)
Light Heavyweight (MMA)
Middleweight (MMA)
Professional boxing record
Total22
Wins15
By knockout4
Losses5
By knockout3
Draws2
Mixed martial arts record
Total24
Wins13
By knockout5
By submission4
By decision4
Losses11
By knockout4
By submission5
By decision2
Amateur record
Total4
Wins1
By submission1
Losses3
By submission1
Other information
Boxing record from BoxRec
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

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

  • WKBF South Pacific Cruiserweight title
  • WKN Australian super cruiserweight title

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

  • Australian National Middleweight title

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 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 the 19th of 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 the 7th of May 2022, but this time for the vacant IBO Oceania-Orient Cruiserweight title.[34] Sa'lesui won the rematch by Split Decision.

Boxing titles

  • Universal Boxing Organisation
    • UBO Asia Pacific Cruiserweight title
  • Australian National Boxing Federation
    • Australasian Cruiserweight title
    • Australian National Cruiserweight title
  • International Boxing Federation
    • IBF Pan Pacific Cruiserweight title

Professional boxing record

22 fights 15 wins 5 losses
By knockout 4 3
By decision 11 2
Draws 2
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
22 Lose 15–5–2 Australia Peter Sa'lesui SD 8 7 May 2022 Australia Royal International Convention Centre, Bowen Hills, Queensland, Australia Lost vacant IBO Oceania-Orient Cruiserweight title
21 Lose 15–4–2 Australia Peter Sa'lesui MD 8 19 March 2022 Australia Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Albert Park, Victoria, Australia
20 Win 15–3–2 Australia Waikato Falefehi UD 5 4 September 2021 Australia Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill, Queensland, Australia
19 Lose 14–3–2 Australia Mark Flanagan TKO 5 (10), 2:45 26 June 2021 Australia Entertainment Centre, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Lost vacant Australian National Cruiserweight title
18 Win 14–2–2 Australia Waikato Falefehi UD 6 5 March 2021 Australia Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill, Queensland, Australia
17 Lose 13–2–2 Australia Jai Opetaia TKO 6 (10), 1:50 22 October 2020 Australia Fortitude Music Hall, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Australia Lost WBO Global & IBF Asia Cruiserweight titles
16 Win 13–1–2 Australia Quintin Carey UD 6 21 September 2019 Australia Southport Sharks AFL Club, Southport, Queensland, Australia
15 Win 12–1–2 United States Patrick Ferguson UD 10 8 June 2019 Australia The Star Gold Coast, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia Won vacant IBF Pan Pacific Cruiserweight title
14 Win 11–1–2 Australia Uria Afamasaga UD 10 16 March 2019 Australia Southport Sharks AFL Club, Southport, Queensland, Australia Defended Australian National Cruiserweight title
13 Win 10–1–2 Australia Brad Traynor UD 4 4 August 2018 Australia The Melbourne Pavilion, Flemington, Victoria, Australia
12 Win 9–1–2 Australia Jayden Joseph UD 10 7 July 2018 Australia Mansfield Tavern, Mansfield, Queensland, Australia Won Australian National Cruiserweight title
11 Win 8–1–2 Australia Robert Ferguson UD 4 21 April 2018 Australia Ipswich Basketball Stadium, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
10 Lose 7–1–2 Australia Jai Opetaia TKO 3 (10), 2:36 17 January 2018 Australia The Star Sydney, Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia Lost Australian National cruiserweight title
9 Win 7–0–2 New Zealand Nikolas Charalampous UD 10 2 December 2017 Australia Mansfield Tavern, Mansfield, Queensland, Australia
8 Win 6–0–2 Australia Chris McClung TKO 2 (4), 0:52 6 October 2017 Australia The Melbourne Pavilion, Flemington, Victoria, Australia
7 Win 5–0–2 New Zealand Filipo Fonoti Masoe UD 5 23 September 2017 Australia Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill, Queensland, Australia
6 Win 4–0–2 Malaysia Stephen Anak TKO 5 (8), 2:59 27 May 2017 Singapore Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore Defended UBO Asia Pacific Cruiserweight title
5 Draw 3–0–2 Australia Brett Peters MD 4 18 March 2017 Australia Eatons Hill Hotel.Eatons Hill, Queensland, Australia
4 Win 3–0–1 Indonesia Satria Antasena KO 3 (8), 17 February 2017 Singapore Foochow Building, Singapore Won vacant UBO Asia Pacific Cruiserweight title
3 Draw 2–0–1 Australia Daniel Russell SD 5 3 December 2016 Australia Mansfield Tavern, Mansfield, Queensland, Australia
2 Win 2–0 Australia Adam Lovelock UD 6 1 October 2016 Australia The Met, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Australia
1 Win 1–0 New Zealand Filipo Fonoti Masoe TKO 4 (4) 13 August 2016 New Zealand Pakuranga Rugby Club, South Auckland, New Zealand

References

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