The latest installment of Wednesday Night Fights took place in Plant City, Florida, where Radivoje Kalajdzic squared off against Mickey Ellison as the main fight in the light heavyweight division.
Ellison, hailing from England, stepped into the ring after a couple of regional British title wins. Kalajdzic, from Saint Petersburg, had a clean slate in his last three fights, coming back from a world title loss to Artur Beterbiev.
The night proved tough for Ellison. He ultimately lost due to an eighth-round knockout. Kalajdzic was commanding the whole time, effectively using his excellent jab. Starting from the middle rounds, he began to dominate, while Ellison, who was consistently moving forward, appeared to be outclassed.
Despite his efforts to shift the momentum, Ellison found himself under heavy pressure throughout. He was almost knocked down at the close of the fifth round and the same story unfolded in the sixth. By the seventh round, Ellison’s overly aggressive approach had left him vulnerable, leading to a bloody face for most of the fight, a circumstance that Kalajdzic didn’t hesitate to exploit.
The American, born in Belgrade, kicked off the eighth round aggressively. His powerful jab was close to flooring Ellison. Midway through the round, a strong right from Kalajdzic had Ellison falling down. Ellison managed to rise at the nine count, but Kalajdzic immediately released a finishing combo, forcing the ref to stop the fight.
Kalajdzic’s record now stands at 28-2, with 20 KOs. Ellison’s moved to 14-5, with 5 KOs.
In other fights of the night, William Foster III (16-0, 10 KOs) secured the WBA Fedecentro super featherweight title by defeating Misael Lopez (14-4, 5 KOs) in the ninth round via TKO. Jonas Sultan (19-6, 11 KOs) and Dominic Valle (7-0, 5 KOs) both secured decision wins to start the broadcast.
Wednesday Night Fights will be back on September 20th in Plant City. Batyrzhan Jukembayev (20-1, 16 KOs) will go head-to-head with Hugo Alberto Roldan (22-1-1, 7 KOs) in the super lightweight division. Meanwhile, Clay Waterman (11-0, 8 KOs) will fight Kareem Hackett (11-0, 6 KOs) for the WBA Inter-Continental light heavyweight title, and Lester Martinez will compete against Lionell Thompson (22-5, 12 KOs) at 168 pounds.