7 years ago today: Lionell Lamar "Lonnie B" Thompson vs. Radivoje "Hot Rod" Kalajdžić (hbd, CST!)

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A birthday treat for @CST80: a fight involving two fighters he likes but which I'm nearly certain he never saw*. I didn't even realize this footage was available online myself, until today.

(* nobody did, outside a handful of people in one random country with no real connection to either combatant; a country that does have a moderate fanbase passionate about the sport but much less so than it has for MMA or powerlifting, and in boxing they're really only ever concerned with their own guys).

This was on the undercard of Kovalev vs. Agnew, in the unfortunate spot just behind Karim Mayfield vs. Thomas DuLorme in the co-feature and only bout HBO bothered to air on this broadcast of BAD starting at 10pm EST (this was before the advent of streaming content services, and before showing hours' worth of prelims on social media or a network's secondary channels became trendy and the almost expected norm). Mayfield vs. DuLorme was a horrible fight, best forgotten, and while hindsight is 20-20, it really would have behooved HBO to pick Hot Rod vs. Lonnie B. as its televised co-main event instead. As it stands, the only place this was shown (and I just, as mentioned above, discovered this, several years later) was on the Fight Klub Polska series "World of Boxing" - which basically just rented the HBO feed and slapped their own Polish commentary over it.

 

I was originally just going to post a highlights (or maybe full) vid of Kovalev vs. Agnew, the last big match on a March 29th landing on a Saturday; not to mention one featuring our mutual favorite KO artist of recent memory looking absolutely destructive smack-dab in his prime, snatching a contender's zero and soul - but, after discovering this overlooked diamond in the rough it seemed all the more appropriate to subsume this into my existing "x years ago today" RBR scoring from the vault format. I figured, even though neither Kalajdzic nor Thompson is terribly relevant nowadays, he was a fan of both and this one still isn't so ancient that Chris won't balk the way he does at most grainy b&w classics of yesteryear. This is probably one that he would have wanted to watch & score when it happened - but, a) it wasn't possible in our market and b) he was still a n00b, having only joined the board a few months earlier and not yet even making appearances in the RBR threads.

 

Lionell Lamar Thompson vs. Radivoje Kalajdzic, 8 rounds @ light heavyweight

 

Round 1

Kalajdzic is clearing the gate hot, right fist soaring out & up at Thompson's cranium on an incline with a steady pump-action sawed-off rhythm. Thompson showing his slickness, riding with the shots and letting the brunt of most deflect off his shoulder blades as he dips to either side. Kalajdzic showing a very obvious diversion jab and then winging massive game-over haymakers with the right. Somebody's hungry for a KO1 blitz, it seems - perhaps looking to upstage the Krusher (both in terms of stealing the show from the main event, and bettering his performance versus Lionell). Thompson far too cagey - ducking, ear-muffing, sliding laterally and coming up counter-jabbing. Kalajdzic playing mind games, stalking with both arms dangling like dead weight, knuckles at his knees and even shimmying and showboating a little. More heavy power shots up top from the Serb's right. Thompson sticking the jab and moving, avoiding getting trapped on the ropes with quick footwork trajectory adjustments. Thompson clinching when he needs to. Kalajdzic walking him down now, adopting the Philly shell and jabbing off the hip up at the face of Thompson, who is mirroring the stance but focusing more on its defensive possibilities, slipping most of Kalajdzic's stuff.

Very tight, interesting opener.

10-9 Kalajdzic, just.

 

Round 2

Kalajdzic is trading jabs now, mid-range and medium-slow pace - all of which is the American's wheelhouse. A few awkward clinches but otherwise a clean jabbing duel, with Thompson actually nudging Kalajdzic into the ropes burrowing in low with a stream of facial jabs and some coalstoker rights on the chest. Kalajdzic to my eye has much longer reach but his jab technique isn't the match of Thompson's, more noodly, allowing the shorter man to get inside and carve away.

10-9 Thompson

19-19

 

Round 3

Kalajdzic is ripping some nice curveball rights into the body now to disabuse Thompson of any notion he can repeat his strategy from the second round of marching straight in with jabs unmolested. Kalajdzic now dashing clockwise to set up his shots and look for angles to land from unseen. Cleverer pressure overall. Big spike in clinching, but they're both pretty good about instantly disentangling from each other and wrestling free without needing the ref to intervene. Kalajdzic really feeling his oats now, snapping Thompson's head back with some long jabs while sitting the outer row of the carousel.

10-9 Kalajdzic

29-28 Kalajdzic

 

Round 4

Kalajdzic is throwing pairs of spearing body shots and then shuffling away, making the shorter-armed Thompson lunge to give him a receipt. There is a stoppage of action when Thompson spits out his gum shield after eating a huge downward bashing left hook and Kalajdzic whacks him across the jaw with a whipping sidelong right - a clear foul, but not a deliberate sucker punch, more heat of the moment. Time in. Thompson is responding well now, ducking in and driving his shoulders up into Kalajdzic's face to disguise his up-jabs and Roman candle rights from a crouch.

10-9 Kalajdzic, super close

39-37 Kalajdzic

 

Round 5

Thompson advancing behind a strong left jab, picking up where he left off to end the fourth. Kalajdzic bouncing around, somewhat jittery, loosely countering with pot shots on the backfoot, not setting his feet or even really closing his fist all the way. Thompson is expertly stopping on a dime, yanking his upper half backward after braking and shoulder-rolling at times, making Kalajdzic miss in multiple ways and mostly remaining the aggressor, but always the ring general. Nice body jabs from Thompson. Very much a round off for Kalajdzic, his effort dropping to nearly zero in the last minute.

10-9 Thompson

48-47 Kalajdzic

 

Round 6

Thompson is stepping lively, jabbing sharply at different altitudes from mid/long-range. Kalajdzic is seeking an opening to exit the pit lane he placed himself in last round. Some heavy rights up top, whiffing. Thompson blocking and falling back, spring-coiling to launch himself in with preemptive 1-2s on the body, giving Kalajdzic pause. Thompson is very smoothly prodding the face of Kalajdzic with a jab and then dodging a left hook by backpedaling and swaying out in one fluid motion. Kalajdzic hunting, unable to pin him down.

10-9 Thompson

57-57

 

Round 7

Nice tit for tat - Kalajdzic stuffs a jab in Thompson's face and Thompson responds with his own buried into Kalajdzic's stomach. They box their way into a couple of brief clinches, usually when Thompson lifts his arm to block a Kalajdzic hook thrown from improper range. Thompson again loses his mouthguard; referee looking a little annoyed, maybe thinking a point deduction if that happens anymore. Time in. Strong jab work from Thompson. Shoeshine of straight heavy arm punches into the midsection by Kalajdzic. Thompson ducks a clubbing right but absorbs it partially on the nape. Kalajdzic punches through Thompson's jab with a straight right, knocking it aside, and partially connects on a short left hook to his chin.

10-9 Kalajdzic, close

67-66 Kalajdzic

 

Round 8

Kalajdzic is shrimping up into a tall, twisted tree - tightly gnarled to give Thompson a slim target for his jab and making him overreach and fall prey to either counter rights down the pipe from behind the back, or momentum-halting clinches. Thompson gets wise and starts to cruise the perimeter, sniping with jabs instead of coming forward. Kalajdzic tries creating his own openings, diving in, spraying leather overhead blindly. Thompson the one tactically tying up now. Grazing right by Kalajdzic.

10-9 Kalajdzic

77-75 Kalajdzic

 

Official cards:

78-72 Kalajdzic (whoa, wide as hell)
77-75 Thompson (reasonable)
76-75 SD for...

Radivoje "Hot Rod" Kalajdzic

 

Nice fight. Not amazing, but glad to have finally rectified missing it.

HBO...you know I loved and dearly miss you guys, but that doesn't make me any less pissed you deprived us of this and instead inflicted Hard Hitta vs. El Francés on us.

(tbf they were both usually more pleasing to watch than they were against each other; bad style clash)

 

Now don't any of the rest of you go getting ideas thinking a precedent has been set here and that you all can go requesting a custom thread on your b-days - that **** ain't happening.

 

Ultimately grateful they did for posterity but still slightly baffled why Fight Klub showed more undercard than HBO themselves did - or honestly why they even picked up this card in the first place. Kovalev, Agnew, Mayfield, Dulorme, Kalajdzic, Thompson - not a Pole in the whole lot.