Perennial light-heavyweight contenders Craig Richards and Radivoje Kalajdzic are set to collide in London, at the Copper Box Arena, on Zuffa Boxing’s September 26 show topped by Johnny Fisher’s heavyweight showpiece against Michael Pirotton.
Both fighters will see victory as a route to another world title shot; each have come up short in the past, albeit against the very best.
London’s Richards, 20-4-1 (13 KOs), was surprisingly competitive against Dmitry Bivol back in May 2021 before losing a unanimous decision after 12 rounds in a bid for the WBA belt. Subsequent losses to Joshua Buatsi (2022) and Willy Hutchinson (2024) seemed to end his world title hopes but the 36-year-old rebounded in 2025, beating both Padraig McCrory and Dan Azeez inside schedule.
Serbia-born American Kalajdzic, based in Florida and known as “Hot Rod”, was knocked out in five rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a 2019 shot at the IBF belt and has only been beaten by David Morrell (2024) since. The 35-year-old, 30-3 (22 KOs), rebounded from that in February this year by knocking out fellow veteran Oleksandr Gvozdyk in seven rounds.
Richards, however, insists this is his final stop before world-title try number two.
“I think going out there and putting on a statement performance against him puts my name in a hat for that world title, 100 per cent,” Richards told Sky Sports. “I’m locked in. I’m ready to do a job.
“My story hasn’t been written yet. I didn’t do all of this and sacrifice everything to not accomplish my goals to be a world champion.
“So, I feel like I should get a reward. I’m not being entitled, but I feel like the work I put in, I should get something back out of it. And that’s to be world champion.”
