Kelly outpointed the heavily favoured previously unbeaten Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev to win the IBF Super Welterweight, becoming Sunderland's first ever world champion boxer.
And Kelly has already been told by his beloved Sunderland that the Black Cats want to host a huge world title fight at the Stadium of Light.
Kelly discovered the news when he took his seat for his post-fight press conference in the early hours of Sunday morning, flanked by Matchroom CEO Frank Smith.
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"They’ve just text,” revealing he'd received a post-match message from Sunderland.
“They’ve said ‘Let’s get it on, Stadium of Light next."
Kelly replied: "Jesus Christ! That's crazy."
Some of Sunderland's players were in attendance at the Utilita Arena to see Kelly stun Murtazaliev.
Kelly dropped his much-fancied opponent in the fourth round with a counter left hand but Murtazaliev was swiftly back to his feet and the Russian earned his own knockdown with a savage left in the ninth.
Despite beating the count, Kelly struggled for the next couple of rounds but he finished strongly and got the nod with scores of 115-111 and 114-113 in his favour, with a third judge seeing it 113-113.
Kelly was slick for much of the fight, with his movement and his ability to get in and out of the pocket confounding Murtazaliev, who adjusted well as the fight wore on but Kelly did just enough.
Kelly becomes the first fighter from Sunderland to win a world title and joins heavyweight Fabio Wardley, welterweight Lewis Crocker, super-featherweight Jazza Dickens, featherweight Nick Ball and light-welterweight Dalton Smith as the reigning male world champions.
"It feels like a dream. I envisioned this," said Kelly, who improved his record to 18 wins from 20 fights.
"I was praying a couple of days ago, envisioned the fight, and I had deja vu of the knockdown in the tenth round.
"I had to concentrate, I feel overwhelmed. I need to take a second backstage to gather myself. I'm mentally exhausted."
"I was surprised at how easy it felt in there sometimes. I was calm, cool, collected and I never got greedy, except in the ninth round and I paid the price for it. But I showed I’ve got heart, got up late in the fight and continued. He was supposed to be a killer but when I perform at my best and use everything I've got I'm a hard night for anyone."
It's been a long and at times frustrating journey to the top for Kelly, who turned pro after the 2016 Olympics and was tipped for stardom but had his momentum halted when he lost to David Avanesyan in 2021.
He's now won eight fights on the bounce since that setback, but Saturday's victory was undoubtedly a career best performance and success.
Ahead of Saturday's fight, Matchroom chief Smith said a win would make Kelly "one of the biggest names in British boxing" and said there would be "massive fights to be made".
Smith didn't rule out Connor Benn after Saturday's win, while unbeaten American Jaron “Boots” Ennis is another option.
Kelly said: "There are plenty of names who can fill that stadium and make it a crazy night at the Stadium of Light.
"If I have to hang up gloves now I'd be happy but now is the time to get those big fights that will get people talking."