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

Kathy easily could have found some dormant, unoccupied regional or national bauble to get this sanctioned for (in fact, the WBC USNBC title was definitely vacant and would've been perfect - ditto the NABA, which Thompson had already vied for once) to make it at least nominally 'equal' to Mayfield vs. Dulorme for the vacant NABF strap at 140lb and justify elevating this one above it.

 

Couple of random thoughts:

1. At first blush, one might think Kalajdzic was always supposed to win this walking away, being the unbeaten prospect in with a guy that had lost twice and been very publicly and humiliatingly demolished (by a young and hungry Kovalev, whose buzz was at fever pitch after the Simakov tragedy and then making his US television debut brutalizing Deezol in their rematch) - but, while the Bosnian has suffered many setbacks (a robbery loss to Browne, spurts of inactivity, and running afoul Beterbiev) to excuse himself, I can't honestly say that his résumé isn't a good deal weaker if you look at them side by side. Thompson was also the house fighter, being a very well-liked guy in the Main Events camp despite not ever being among their most celebrated by John Q. Public the casual, and was on a nice run of form rebuilding from the Kovalev defeat: stopping Phillly spoiler Chuck Mussachio and then outpointing a pair of southpaws in unbeaten Yathomas Riley and former cruiser fringe contender (and contestant on reality show The Contender, in season four) Ryan Coyne. They may well have scouted Kalajdzic and thought he was just wild enough for a motivated Lonnie B to pretzel up and outbox to a close minor upset decision - probably anticipating exactly the kind of fight we got, and knowing the coin could've fallen either heads or tails. Hot Rod to date still doesn't have a better official victory since this one, and his second best is...Grachev? Thompson meanwhile has done alright...couple more losses, but also several wins over high-level journeymen (Findley, Sigmon) and former big names in Donovan George and José Uzcátegui. That was actually the last action Thompson or Uzcátegui saw, right before Covid. What a crappy momentum killer...
   
   
2. Why the heck, if they were going to record it anyway to sell to Fight Klub, didn't HBO just air this on any of their lesser channels, like HBO Zone? Or have Main Events put the prelims on their Ustream page, as they often did? I'm positive that was HBO production value in that video - way glossier than what I expect FKP might have managed if they'd sent their own crew overseas. What a waste.
   
   
3. A cherry on toppa your cake:
   
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   Had forgotten what a savage beating that was. Kind of astonishing that Agnew escaped round 2, even. That boy saw Jesus when he got JTFD. Poor guy, might have actually eked out an okay career if not for being that ruined that night.

 

Ooze Cat actually returned last Friday, apparently, to like no fanfare.

 

Oh and ANOTHER reason this should've been HBO's televised co-main event:

Same division. No-brainer to set it up as either an improved Thompson angling for a rematch, or a showdown of European unbeatens with exciting styles (granted, Kovalev would have massacred Kalajdzic, but it would have sounded tantalizing around then). But no, let's go with Mug'n'Maul Mayfield and his fellow FNF-level fringe contender down at 140 (and maybe the 50th most interesting boricua fighter of his generation, and someone whose name doesn't automatically mean bad viewing but is largely reflective of their dance partner...he managed to extract a halfway decent bout from Ugás, but he isn't exactly a can't-miss walking thrill reel either) , because ...???

 

Good catch on the deduction btw; just watched the seventh back and yeah, referee Allen Huggins does audibly say 'one point' with his finger raised but he does it quickly and fluidly enough that with the volume lowered (so as to not freak out everybody around me with aggressive Polish commentary ) I'd missed it thinking he was just wagging his index at both men to stay in neutral corners until he said resume. That's a case of, if HBO had just broadcast it with commentary in English, they'd have mentioned the deduction on air, oh well.

Guess that puts my final scorecard at 77-74 Kalajdzic.