Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kaladjzic W10 Craig Richards... On Zuffa Boxing 11 in London, Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kaladjzic battled to a unanimous decision victory over Craig “Spider” Richards in a light heavyweight battle that saw the momentum swing one way, then the other as they fought all the way to the scorecards. All three scorecards read 97-92. Kalajdzic looked sharp from the start, working his jab and briefly appearing to stun Richards in the closing seconds of the opening round. And he continued to box smartly through the second stanza. Richards, meanwhile, had some success with his own jab, and landed a couple of solid shots when Kalajdzic got too close. Richards found his mark in the third round as he got Kalajdzic’s attention with a big shot that appeared to stun “Hot Rod” for a moment. But in the following round, Kalajdzic returned the favor with a big shot that put Richards in trouble.
“Hot Rod” saw his moment and poured on the pressure as he stalked Richards around the ring, landing big shots. But by the end of the round, Richards was the man throwing the heavier punches as he forced Kalajdzic against the ropes in the closing moments.
Business picked up again in the sixth, as Kalajdzic connected with a huge shot that forced Richards to hold on. Kalajdzic kept the pressure on, but Richards fired back with big shots of his own. The final 30 seconds turned into a back-and-forth slugfest, with both men landing big shots before the bell sounded. Richards started fast in the seventh and landed two big right hands that forced Kalajdzic to retreat. “Spider” then switched to the body and buried a crushing left hook to the body that Kalajdzic clearly felt, too. But “Hot Rod” came back again, throwing solid jabs as he took control of the action in the second half of the round.
As the action went into the final round, Richards loaded up and hurt Kalajdzic to the body with a huge left hook. “Spider” stayed on the attack as he pushed forward, looking to land heavy shots to head and body as Kalajdzic looked to hold. Then, with Richards hunting the late knockout, “Hot Rod” hit the accelerator. A blistering combination saw several big shots find their mark, then a big straight right sent Richards backwards into the ropes and down to the canvas for the first time in his career just before the final bell.
That last-gasp knockdown put the seal on Kalajdzic’s second victory in Zuffa Boxing as he claimed a unanimous decision victory, with all three judges scoring the bout 97-92 to take his record to 31-3 and set him up for bigger fights further down the line.
Lee Cutler W10 Louis Greene... The battle of English middleweights was won by Lee “Chaos” Cutler, who eschewed his fighting moniker to deliver a controlled, composed performance to outpoint “The Medway Mauler” Louis Greene over ten rounds. Cutler started looking the sharper man as he let his hands go early, working behind the jab, but staying well out of range. Greene, meanwhile stayed defensively tight and opted not to open up too much through the first two rounds. That changed at the start of the third, as a big right hand from “The Medway Mauler” sent Cutler staggering backwards. It gave encouragement to Greene, who started to trust his shots more, and he walked forward throwing more punches than he did in the early stages.
Things started to get a little scrappy in the fourth, with Greene looking to engage up close, while Cutler looked to tie him up, then strike from range when the fight was out in the open. Greene was having much more joy with his jab, too, with the Medway man noticeably more open with his work than he was in the first two rounds.
After a tricky couple of rounds for Cutler, “Chaos” went back to what worked for him in the first couple of rounds as he looked to box Greene from distance for the remainder of the fight. Greene appeared to be trying to set up something big, but never really managed to land anything clean, with Cutler proving to be just elusive enough to avoid being clipped by Greene’s heavier shots.
Greene tried to find an extra gear in the final round, but Cutler was able to tie him up and stay out of the way of Greene’s heavier punches to ensure he ran out a comfortable decision winner. The scorecards read 98-92and 97-93 (twice) as Cutler claimed his second straight win in Zuffa Boxing to take his career record to 17 wins, two losses. Greene, meanwhile, dropped to 19 wins, five losses.
ADDITIONAL RESULTS
The first female fighter signed to Zuffa Boxing captured her first win in style as England’s former amateur standout Kayla Allen claimed a third-round TKO victory over Hungarian veteran Edina Kiss in their juior welterweight matchup. Allen started fast, establishing her jab early and throwing multi-punch combinations behind them as she connected with some big shots through the opening round. She briefly appeared to wobble Kiss in the closing stages of the round, but time ran out before she had chance to follow up. Kiss landed a solid right hand in the early exchanges in Round 2, and tried to weigh heavy on Allen when they tied up. Allen tried to land more big shots, but was guilty of smothering her own work a little. Then as the pair fought out of a clinch, and Kiss tried to turn her back , Allen connected with a couple of clean shots that prompted the referee to apply a standing eight-count. Allen kept the pressure on in Round 3, landing heavy shots at range. Kiss was seemingly unable to provide an answer, and reverted to holding, leading to a strong warning from the referee as a result. Once the action resumed, Allen continued to batter Kiss with heavy punches for the remainder of the round, with very little coming back from the her opposite number. By the end of the round, Kiss’s corner had seen enough to know their fighter wasn’t going to get back into the contest, and mercifully pulled her out of the contest, giving Allen a third-round TKO stoppage on her professional debut.
Leo Ruiz won the battle of Mexican middleweights, as he followed up on his victory over Casey James Streeter on his Zuffa Boxing debut with a unanimous decision victory over previously undefeated Cesar Mateo Tapia. The pair looked well matched through the first few rounds, with Tapia making better use of the range, while Ruiz tried to make his shots count from close quarters. And with both men seemingly prepared to take a shot to land one, the action moved along at a brisk pace through the first three rounds. As the rounds started to tick off, Ruiz started to separate himself from Tapia as he outworked and outboxed his undefeated opponent. Ruiz’s best work came on the inside as he continually broke Tapia down with body shots, and that body work started to have an effect as Tapia struggled to keep pace with the 27-year-old’s work rate. With Ruiz edging the rounds with his work rate and forward aggression, the bout made it to the final bell, with the judges’ scorecards giving him the victory with scores of 97-93, 96-94, 96-94 to take his record to 18-1. Tapia, meanwhile, drops to 18-1-1.
England’s Alex “The Villain” MacMillan delivered another decisive finish inside the Zuffa Boxing ring with a second-round stoppage of French junior middleweight Guillaume Azagier. The previously undefeated Azagier started out working from range using his southpaw jab and being tricky to engage with, but MacMillan quickly adjusted and stepped into range to land heavy punches. And, with a minute remaining in the opening round, a big right hand caught the Frenchman flush and sent him to the canvas. Azagier continued to throw shots in a bid to keep MacMillan at bay, but the Englishman walked through the punches to land a big right hand to drop Azagier again. It seemed a finish was imminent, but the eight-count proved the Frenchman’s saviour, with insufficient time left in the first round for MacMillan to finish the job. However, “The Villain” made sure he completed the assignment at the start of the second round. A big right hand put Azagier in trouble, and a succession of follow-up punches found their mark as the combined intervention of the referee and the towel from Azagier’s corner brought the action to a close at the 32-second mark. It meant MacMillan improved to 5-0 with the fourth finish of his career, with the Morecambe-based fighter showing plenty of potential early on in his career. And, after a typically bullish post-fight interview, it’s clear he plans on making great strides as he looks to make a name for himself under the Zuffa Boxing banner.
Cruiserweight Rogelio Romero extended his perfect record with a third-round TKO of previously unbeaten Aurel Ignat in an all-action cruiserweight clash saw both men hurt as they connected with big shots throughout. It didn’t take long for the leather to start flying, as both fighters stood in the pocket and traded big shots in the first round. Then, later in the round, a solid left to the body from Romero forced Ignat to temporarily back away in pain as the Mexican found his mark with a liver shot. There was still time for Romero to score again, with a big right hand over the top finding its mark on the Moldovan before the bell sounded to end a frantic opening three minutes. Romero resumed his body attack early in the second round and appeared to hurt Ignat twice in quick succession with lefts to the same area he’d connected to in the first. But, despite being hurt to the midsection, the Moldovan continued to fire back with heavy shots as he pushed the pace on Romero, who started to tire towards the end of the round. Round three started with both fighters being hurt, with Romero clipping Ignat with a big shot in the opening exchanges, only for Ignat to come storming back to hurt Romero in reply. A timely pause in the action to replace Romero’s mouthpiece gave the Mexican some much-needed respite, but Ignat resumed his assault when the action restarted. But, with both men exchanging big shots, Romero unloaded a huge two-punch combination that put Ignat on wobbly legs. Romero stepped in and landed another big left hook that connected clean. The punch was enough to force the referee to step in and wave off the contest at the 2:12 mark.
Featherweight Alexis de la Cerda defeats Cain Lewis via unanimous decision. Scores were 80-72, 79-73, 79-74. The undefeated featherweights went head-to-head, and de la Cerda claimed a hard-earned decision victory after a competitive eight-round battle with Ireland’s “King” Cain Lewis. The pair clearly had respect for the other’s abilities in a cagey start to the contest, but through the first half of the fight, de la Cerda seemed to edge the rounds with more effective work, particularly to the body. With his corner urging him to up the pressure a little heading into the fifth, Lewis started to load up more on his shots, and the Irishman connected with a solid right hand, but de la Cerda immediately fired back with a flurry of shots that saw some big shots land on Lewis in reply. It highlighted the difference the pair, with de la Cerda working showing a little bit more in the exchanges, and through the rounds, despite the action being competitive throughout the contest. An accidental clash of heads in the sixth saw Lewis sustain a nasty cut on his brow that leaked blood into his eye, and that seemed to spur Lewis on as he loaded up and drove forward in a bid to break his opponent down the stretch. De la Cerda showed good defensive skills, however, and responded with excellent work to the body as the pair scrapped it out for the final two rounds.
Lightweight Fred Pullen defeated Leonardo Faretina via decision (40-35), outboxing the Italian veteran over four rounds. Pullen settled into his work from the southpaw stance, and as the round wore on, he started to read the Italian’s feints as he landed some decent shots late in the round. Then, with the first punch of Round 2, Pullen connected with a peach of a left hand to drop Faretina and force an eight-count after the Italian bounced straight back up. Pullen had found his range, and started to draw the Faretina forward, looking for that counter shot, and a similar shot seemed to send him to touch down again, but this time it was ruled a slip. Pullen continued to dominate the exchanges through the third round, with Faretina looking a little more wary to step in, and in the fourth and final frame, he started to tee off on the Italian from range, both with his southpaw right hand, and with a fast, snappy straight left. Faretina connected with a couple of solid right hands as he kept Pullen honest for the full four-round distance. It was a solid first runout for Pullen on his pro debut, as he earned a shutout victory, with the referee scoring the fight 40-35 to get the 22-year-old prospect’s pro career off to a winning start.
