Radivoje Kalajdzic KO7 Oleksandr Gvozdyk ... On Zuffa Boxing 02 undercard action, Radivoje Kalajdzic knocked out ex-champ Oleksandr Gvozdyk in their light heavyweight contest. It was a stunning come-from-behind victory for Kalajdzic, who recovered from two knockdowns to knock out Gvosdyk in a dramatic turnaround. Gvozdyk didn’t take long to find a home for his power shots, and a peach of a one-two combination sent Kalajdzic to the canvas mid-way through the opening round. Despite the early breakthrough, Gvozdyk didn’t rush his work and continued to work at his own pace as he picked holes in Kalajdzic’s defenses while “Hot Rod” looked to box from range.
“The Nail” continued to apply controlled pressure through Rounds 2 and 3, before scoring his second knockdown of the fight in Round 4. This time, it was a sustained barrage of punches that forced Kalajdzic to sit down on the ropes for a technical knockdown as the referee applied the required eight count. Then, in the fifth, Kalajdzic almost took another standing eight-count after he crouched down and sat on the bottom rope after more heavy shots from Gvozdyk.
After some inspirational words from his corner team, Kalajdzic came out in the seventh round and promptly stunned Gvozdyk with a straight right hand. The success seemed to transform “Hot Rod”, who started to land his right hand almost at will, and dropped Gvozdyk with 40 seconds to go in the round.
After the eight count, Kalajdzic immediately stepped back into range and unleashed a monster of a right hand to send “The Nail” crashing to the canvas once again. Gvozdyk battled back to his feet, but immediately staggered backward and fell to the canvas again as the referee waved off the fight. It was an incredible turnaround from “Hod Rod”, who claimed the 30th win of his 14-year career by handing Gvozdyk only his third career loss.
ADDITIONAL BOUTS
In a 157-pounds bout, Jalil Hackett defeats Roberto Cruz Jr. via majority decision (95-95, 96-94, 97-93) The featured preliminary card bout saw rival 11-1 middleweights go toe to toe as Hackett narrowly edged out Cruz Jr. after ten action-packed rounds. Hackett looked to lead the dance early, but had to content himself with trading shots as Cruz broke his rhythm with his more compact stance and smart counters. The Puerto Rican started to cause more problems for Hackett in the third round, with his consistent jabs to the body and snappy shots, but Hackett adjusted well and, in the fourth round, he found his range and landed big. A two-punch combination stunned Cruz, and Hackett moved in, landing big shots in an attempt to force the stoppage. Remarkably, Cruz took the best of Hackett’s shots, and even came firing back with heavy punches of his own as the round came to a close. WIth Cruz stubbornly refusing to buckle under the pressure, Hackett was instructed by his father and coach Bernard Hackett to switch up his style from full-power head-hunting to a more technical boxing-based approach. And, while it took a couple of rounds for Hackett to adjust, by the final two rounds, the Washington D.C. native was back to working behind his jab, and landing cleaner, more eye-catching shots as a result. The change in style helped ensure that Hackett stayed out of danger through the final two rounds as the bout went the distance. And, when the judges’ scorecards were collated, Hackett claimed the majority decision victory and moved to 12-1 as a pro.
In a lightweight contest, undefeated southpaws Oscar Perez and Justin Viloria went toe to toe at 135 pounds and served up a breathless back-and-forth scrap that went all the way back to the scorecards, with Viloria taking the victory by unanimous decision. The pair put the pedal to the metal from the very first exchange and didn’t let up for a second as they traded shots in a series of rapid-fire exchanges that saw each fighter seemingly always have an answer for the other. It made for a spectacular contest, with Perez opening up looking to rip the body, then move up to the head, while Viloria started off targeted the head, then sprinkled in some solid body work of his own. Eventually, it turned into a fast-paced, high-intensity phone-booth fight that delivered some of the best action we’ve seen in the Zuffa Boxing ring so far. Remarkably, after four rounds of non-stop action, the pace still hadn’t dropped, and neither man had taken a backward step. But, in trying to find a differentiating factor, it seemed the Viloria’s shots were starting to look the heavier and cleaner, though Perez’s relentless salvos ensured that every round was a virtual coin flip. Both men maintained the pace through the full eight-round duration, but when there was a difference to be seen between the pair, it was Vilorian whose work narrowly edged the comparative eye test. In the end, after eight rounds of non-stop action, the judges were called upon to separate the pair, and it was Viloria’s cleaner, crisper work that got the nod, with scores of 79-73, 78-74, 77-75. It meant that Viloria moved on to 12-0, while Perez dropped to 14-1-2.
Damoni Cato-Cain showcased outstanding conditioning and a non-stop work-rate as he returned from a 415-day layoff to comprehensively outpoint undefeated short-notice opponent Christian Morales over eight rounds in an entertaining 150-pound catchweight contest Cato-Cain started fast, switch-hitting and presenting constantly-changing looks for Morales, who struggled to get his shots off in the opening round. The Oakland native’s high output and weighty shots forced Morales to play defense throughout the first three minutes. In Round 2, Morales attempted to work off the back foot and catch Cato-Cain on the way in, but more often than not found himself on the wrong end of multiple shots. But, despite taking more punches than he dished out, the Las Vegas native managed to gain a foothold in the bout, with his straight right finding its mark on more than one occasion during the second stanza.
Morales almost made the breakthrough at the start of the third round as he caught Cato-Cain with a perfectly-timed shot that sent the Oakland man staggering backwards. Roared on by his corner, Morales continued to push forward and land big shots. As the round wore on, Cato-Cain, now settled into his orthodox stance, managed to box his way back into the round, but the confidence in Morales’ work was there for all to see as he happily went punch for punch with his more experienced opponent all the way to the end of the round. That round set the tone for the next four rounds as the pair went back and forth, with Cato-Cain’s volume and activity contrasting with Morales’ more flashy single shots. It took us all the way to the final round, and both men connected with big shots as they looked to finish the fight strong. But, despite their best efforts, the fight went all the way to the final bell. Despite each of the eight rounds being competitively contested, Cato-Cain held the advantage in almost all of them, and the scorecards reflected that fact, as he was declared the victor with scores of 80-72, 79-73, 77-75 to take his professional record to 9-1-2. Morales, meanwhile, falls to the first defeat of his career as he drops to 7-1.
Da'Mazion Vanhouter conceded around 60 pounds in weight to opponent Julian Gomez, but the 21-year-old heavyweight prospect more than made up for it with his boxing as he showcased intelligent shot selection and solid punch power to score a third-round TKO victory. Gomez got to work straight away, throwing big looping overhand rights, with a couple of them finding a home on the top of Vanhouter’s head. It didn’t take long for Vanhouter to find his range, though, and a vicious combination sent Gomez down to the canvas at the mid-way point of the opening round. Gomez took the eight count, got up and came back swinging, but once again Vanhouter avoided the big shots, then set his feet and started clubbing his Mexican opponent, with the American’s uppercuts snapping Gomez’s head backward on a couple of notable occasions. The round ended with Vanhouter teeing off on Gomez, who looked outmatched and outgunned. In round two, Vanhouter invested in his body work as he kept a slowing Gomez at range and hammered him to the midsection with thumping body shots. By the middle of the round Gomez’s punches had noticeably slowed, and Vanhouter continued to stalk his man, landing more heavy shots to the body. After two one-sided rounds, Vanhouter saw the chance to get himself a third-round finish, and after trapping Gomez in the corner, he did exactly that as a powerful salvo of unanswered punches forced the referee to step in and wave off the contest at the 1:27 mark. Vanhouter’s victory extends his perfect professional record to 11-0, with eight knockouts, while Gomez drops to 7-4.
The event kicked off with a second-round finish from cruiserweight Jamar “No Mercy” Talley, who showed off some flashy hands before loading up to claim a stoppage victory over 16-fight veteran Devonte Williams with one perfectly-placed shot. Talley quickly settled into his work and mixed up his shots nicely, moving from head to body and having equal success with both. Williams shook his head at some of the early shots, but those dismissive gestures had stopped by the end of the round, with Talley connecting seemingly at will. The second round saw Talley turn up the power and the frequency as he doubled up on his jab and extended his combinations to dominate the round. Then, as the round approached its final seconds, Talley slipped to the side and connected with a perfectly-timed short right hook that sent Williams to the canvas. Williams couldn’t beat the count, and Talley claimed the fifth knockout of his young career with just one second left on the clock. The 25-year-old’s victory took the protegé of renowned trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre to 6-0, and served as an early warning to the other cruiserweight prospects looking to make a name for themselves in Zuffa Boxing.
