Kalajdzic drops Richards to hand him dramatic hometown defeat

Radivoje Kalajdzic turned Craig Richards’ London homecoming into a nightmare.

Richards, fighting in his home city for the first time since 2024, was looking to force his way back into the world title picture.

But “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic savagely supplanted him, taking a unanimous decision after handing Richards a heavy knockdown in the closing seconds of the contest.

In their tremendous 10-round battle, Richards was badly wobbled in the sixth round, only for “Spider” to come back with fierce determination himself.

Just as Richards was dominating the last round, lashing “Hot Rod” from one set of ropes to another with well-judged body hooks and hard crosses to the head, Kalajdzic counter-attacked viciously.

He darted in with a combination, knocking punches against Richards’ head. Then in the closing seconds of the fight, Kalajdzic landed a stunning right, that toppled Richards all the way over.

He flopped onto his side. Somehow Richards rose, but his legs were shaking beneath him. The bell rang to save him from a cold finish but Kalajdzic won unanimously, 97-92 for all three judges,

Lee Cutler’s nickname might be “Chaos” but he was all about control as he defused the threat of Louis Greene over 10 rounds.

Greene is heavy-handed, and after a quiet start he clipped the Bournemouth man, hurting Cutler and momentarily buckling his legs.

Cutler recovered himself, reeling off a right of his own to start the fourth round. He smacked in a one-two but Greene stood close in hacking at Cutler with punches.

To pin down Cutler, Greene needed to link his punches into combinations. However he was throwing single shots, albeit hard ones, while Cutler outmanoeuvred him.

Greene found his urgency in the 10th and last round, but Cutler withstood the assault, tying up Greene when he had to to win a unanimous decision, 98-92 and 97-93 twice.

Kayla Allen, the first female fighter signed by Zuffa Boxing, was too much for Hungarian veteran Edina Kiss.

Allen kept her shape, gloves high, as she moved well on her feet. Soon she was bombarding Kiss.

A clean cross landed in a combination, knocking Kiss back a few paces. Gamely Kiss tried to club punches back at her at the start of the second round but Allen asserted herself, the right smacking into the Hungarian’s chin and she brought through a hard left as well. With Kiss turning away, Allen shook Kiss up. The Hungarian stumbled into the ropes and the referee issued a count.

Allen meted out punishment in the third round, lining up straight one-twos and Kiss retired on her stool at the break.

Alex MacMillan delivered another stunning finish in his second consecutive fight. From the opening bell he stormed after fellow unbeaten prospect Guillaume Azagier, cutting off the ring. He feinted at the body but struck mercilessly to the head. A huge right over the top dropped Azagier heavily in the first round.

MacMillan didn’t need a further invitation. He stayed on him and smashed him back to the canvas before the end of the session.

In the second round, he rapidly had Azagier reeling and as the towel sailed in from the corner, MacMillan put him down a third time to end the fight.

Mexican Olympian Rogelio Romero maintained his 100 per cent knockout ratio in his seven-fight pro career as he handed a first defeat to Moldovan puncher Aurel Ignat.

The heavy-handed Romero hammered Ignat with southpaw left hooks. He hurt the Moldovan, but Ignat returned fire.

In the third round Romero forgot his mouthpiece and started taking hits.

Troubled by Ignat’s fightback, Romero solved his problems with a hellacious right hook that left Ignat wobbling and saw the referee stop him on his feet.

Fred Pullen, a national amateur champion for West Ham, made his professional debut, handling Italy’s Leonardo Faretina over four rounds.

The London southpaw’s lead right fired in at the start of the second round to drop Faretina. But the Italian rose quickly and proved obdurate for the rest of the contest. Pullen controlled the bout with his sharp-shooting, winning 40-35.

In a well-matched eight-rounder top American prospect Alexis De La Cerda and Ireland’s Cain Lewis put their unbeaten records on the line.

De Le Cerda ramped up the pressure and by the sixth the mobile Lewis was cut and bleeding. The Irishman dug in and drove De Le Cerda back in the last round, but the American won a unanimous decision, 80-72, 79-73 and 79-74 for the judges.

Cesar Mateo Tapia came out strongly against Leo Ruiz but couldn’t sustain it as the latter took over their 10-rounder, finishing well to win unanimously, 97-93 and 96-94 twice.