Yanez shouldered some extra pressure to put Kelley away because of crude remarks his opponent made while cornering a few weeks earlier, so a pocket of fans and peers were looking to Yanez to dole out some punishment. That, in tandem with fighting in Texas, put a surplus of high expectations on the Houston native to deliver in style against his toughest opponent to date. However, Kelley leaned in and played the part of the heel throughout the week, providing even more reason for people to back Yanez.
“Tony Kelley made it super easy for everybody just to cheer on my side,” Yanez said. “So, I didn’t have a bad experience, but there was a bit of pressure. At the same time, it’s so easy for me to compartmentalize and drown everything else out and just stay super focused. Even in the middle of a fight, when Tony Kelley started talking trash, I’m in there cool, calm and collected just gunning for him.”
Even though Yanez showed great composure under the lights, he admits he felt “fuzzy” in the morning. Whether that manifested from the prefight anticipation and anxiety or it just being one of those days, he pulled it together when he walked out and heard the crowd respond to his name getting called.
As the fight proceeded, Yanez methodically worked his way inside of Kelley’s lanky frame and countered the Louisiana native’s kicks with heavy left hooks early. Yanez displayed his usual slick, textbook boxing and moved his targets down to Kelley’s body. Eventually, Yanez found a home for his right hand, then another, then another. He found space as Kelley tried to grab hold of him and cracked Kelley with a left hook that sent him stumbling to the canvas.