Fearless ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic targets David Benavidez for December

There were plenty who, after he fought David Morrell, felt they would be condemning Radivoje Kalajdzic to the scrapheap.

Although the 29-3 (21 KOs) “Hot Rod” had been stopped just once before, by Artur Beterbiev, and had won his last five, Cuban hotshot Morrell was one of the high-risk opponents many felt should be avoided at 168 or, in the Cuban’s new weight class, of 175.

Fearless Kalajdzic didn’t see the problem, and after 12 competitive rounds, Kalajdzic had done himself and his ProBox TV team proud, giving Morrell a stiff test and leaving the door ajar to more big opportunities.

In the wake of his decision loss at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov bill, Kalajdzic said he was targeting more big fights and he was delighted to have silenced the doubters who’d tipped Morrell to halt him.

“Yeah, a lot of people had him stopping me within the first two or three rounds and to me the fight wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,” said Kalajdzic. “I thought he was this big puncher, that skilful boxer, but I feel like the fight was closer than they had it. 

“And if his power wasn’t there. I could have done more stuff, threw more punches, but other than that, I figured it out. I felt the fight was way closer than what the scorecards (117-111 twice and 118-110) had it.

“I just feel like all the other big names in the division now are seeing how I did against Morrell, supposedly this big boogeyman, and nobody wanted to fight. So all these other big names that are looking for a step up or trying to see how they would do against me, I think I would be the perfect opponent. [Oleksandr] Gvozdyk, David Benavidez, all these other guys in the UK, I mean I’m down to fight anybody.”

Kalajdzic said he was motivated by the sceptics who had written him off ahead of the August 3 fight and he had the desire to prove that he had plenty left to offer. 

“Yes, for sure. I like being the underdog in fights,” the 33-year-old father of three added. “It makes it more fun, you could say, and I don’t have nothing to lose. Everything was on him. He’s supposed to knock me out. He’s supposed to look good and hey, I’m the guy that he’s supposed to knock out. So there was no pressure on me, I was just wanting to have fun. I just enjoyed the whole show. It was just everything. Everything was fun about it. I had fun. [I] didn’t really like fighting during the day so much. That was a little different and you could say hot, but other than that it was a good experience.”

And unlike many beforehand, at no stage did Kalajdzic think Morrell could be a bridge too far, not just because of Morrell’s standard of opposition but who Kalajdzic has already tested himself against. 

He was not convinced by Morrell.

 “No, because I fought the real boogeyman, [Artur] Beterbiev,” Kalajdzic added. “And I know Morrell fought a lot of guys, smaller guys, even though he fought at 168, his last two or three opponents, they were really 160-pounders.

“So I just knew, and everybody he fought, they were already afraid of him, like they fold up as soon as he starts punching. I knew that that wouldn’t be me and I knew for a fact he wasn’t gonna get me out of there. He barely hit me. He didn’t have much on his punches. And I was expecting him to be faster, but I was able to see most all of his punches. I should have just let my hands go more, I feel like. But overall, it was a good experience.”

Speculation has since swirled that Morrell could face David Benavidez, but that is a bout “Hot Rod” now hopes he has put himself in line for. He is open to facing any of the top names, and is not sure who he rates more highly of the two Davids.

“I don’t know. I haven’t fought David Benavidez, I can’t really say that, but he might have the experience over him [Morrell],” said Kalajdzic. “He fought way more fights, he fought better opponents, so he might have the experience and the mental toughness, I would say, over Morrell.

“I would like to see that fight and then me be on undercard of them, maybe a co-main event against somebody else.” 

Kalajdzic went further and described an idea for a card he would like to be a part of while the top two in the division, Dmitry Bivol and Beterbiev, prepare to fight in October.

Benavidez is coming off a June decision win over Gvozdyk at 175lbs, as he tried to position himself in line for the Bivol-Beterbiev winner. 

“I feel like the best thing would be me versus David Benavidez as the main event, and Morrell versus Gvozdyk as the co-main, because they both fought two guys, and just see how they both do against the other guys, against me and Gvozdyk, different fighters, and then that could be like a build-up to their big fight. Have them fight the guys that they fought and just see how they do.”

Regardless of who Kalajdzic gets next, he wants a big fight. He scored a shocking knockout of Sullivan Barrera on ProBox TV earlier in the year and is one of several ProBox TV alumni to make their way into major fights on major bills in recent times or in the near future, including new IBF featherweight champion Angelo Leo, Trevor McCumby, Ronny Rios and Pablo Cesar Cano. 

“Yeah for sure, I see Trevor’s got a fight against [Caleb] Plant now so yeah,” said Kalajdzic. “It’s amazing, man. They [ProBox TV] seem like they gave my career a kickstart again, and I’m thankful for them, because without them, I wouldn’t have got this big opportunity.”

He says he would be ready for Benavidez later this year, too.

“Yeah, I would like that before the holidays. Yeah, before Christmas and New Year. So, yeah, definitely this year,” he said.