Radivoje Kalajdzic is a man who loves his job.
The fighter they call “Heated Rod” is living his best life, even after a hard-fought loss to David Morrell on August 3.
Although Kalajdzic feels he deserved more recognition in Los Angeles, the St. Petersburg, Florida native hopes his performance was good enough to earn him another substantial fight.
“Well, I like that,” he said. Kalajdzic asked about his further motivation. “I like sparring, fighting. I do everything. So when I lose the love for it, I’ll retire. But it’s like a job for me, but a job that I love. It’s putting food on the table, putting money on the table and food for my family. So like I said, I box and I fight and I get paid for it, so I can’t complain.”
The married father of three – two girls and a boy aged nine, six and five – has signed up for the fight with David Benavidez later this year and it is clear he has a lot of respect for the ‘Mexican monster’.
“Yeah, I think he’s a good puncher, he’s really brisk,” the Serb admitted. “I think he’s got a really good interior game, but I think Caleb Plant showed in the first five, six rounds that he can be boxed. But Plant eventually got tired, and then Benavidez started planning his game. Regardless, it’s going to be a good fight if me and him fight.”
Benavidez is coming off a points victory over the tough and athletic Ukrainian former champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June. It was a tougher fight than many thought. Did that mean Benavidez might not be the same force at 175 that he was at super middleweight, or did Gvozdyk have more power than many thought?
“Well, Gvozdyk, maybe he has a lot of them [left]”- said ‘Heated Rod’. – I don’t know if he’s got much left. Maybe so, but he [Gvozdyk] he has a lot of amateur experience. He fought a lot of pros and he got experience and he knew how to weather the storm, stay placid. And after Benavidez got a little bit better, Gvozdyk started coming back. I mean, even Gvozdyk was beating [Artur] Beterbiev, I think so [until] ninth, tenth round. It was a close fight, but I think Gvozdyk came out on top. But like I said, Beterbiev will eventually tire you out and ponderous you down. That pressure for 12 rounds, it’s just, it’s stiff to deal with. And if he could deal with that with Beterbiev, Benavidez is by no means a monster or a boxer like Beterbiev.”
If Kalajdzic has a ton of respect for Benavidez, and he exudes it for Beterbiev, who is the only man to have stopped him. They sparred before, with Beterbiev stopping him in five rounds in 2019, becoming the only man to stop Kalajdzic in his 32-fight career.
“What I see him do to people during sparring is just crazy” adds the 33-year-old. “He just, you know, he won’t even throw that many punches in the first two or three rounds, and people are just exhausted because he’s right in your face and he just keeps coming. Just his presence, his pressure. He’s real.”
Kalajdzic He also believes that Beterbiev will win the most significant fight in October in Riyadh, when he will try to unify the 175-pound titles against Dmitry Bivol.
“I think Arthur Beterbiev [win]”predicted” Kalajdzic. “Just because of his strength, aggression and the fact that he’s a very good boxer, even though he fights and hits stiff. He breaks you down round after round, you could say he just sucks the soul out of you.
“I’ve fought him many times and even during the fight I felt like I was training with him in the fight, so he doesn’t hit that stiff, he just breaks you down and tires you out and eventually he stops you and breaks you down.”
Does Does Kalajdzic think the unification fight will live up to expectations and hype?
“Well, any fight Beterbiev has is damn close to being the fight of the year. He makes you fight in his fight, so it’ll be really fascinating to see if Bivol can stay away from him for 12 rounds.”
Kalajdzic is hoping to be back in the game with a substantial name before the end of the year. He is also keen to travel to the UK to fight some of the top airy heavyweights, including the likes of Anthony Yarde. He knows he will probably get written off again, but that doesn’t bother him. He is cheerful with his experience and progress.
“I just know what my skills are and from that fight with Beterbiev, looking back at the fight with Beterbiev and now, how much smarter and better I am as a fighter and how much more I think,” he said. “Over time, my coach and I have developed my fight game and we have a good game plan.
“I’ve learned so much and I’m just such a placid warrior. And for people who talk, talk about this and talk about this and that, I’m doing something I love and I get paid well for it. So I don’t care what they say.
“I’m ready to fight anyone. As you can see, I fought Beterbiev. Then I fought David Morrell when no one wanted to fight him. I’m ready to fight anyone, why not? That’s why I box.”
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