- Craig Richards meets Radivoje Kalajdzic in the chief support at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday September 26, with the winner back in the light-heavyweight world title picture
- Kalajdzic arrives off a knockout win over former WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk and has already shared a ring with Artur Beterbiev
- Richards has not been at world level since losing a far closer decision to Dmitry Bivol than anybody expected in 2021 — this is his last credible route back
A Chief Support That Matters More Than Most Main Events
Right then. Everyone is going to spend this week talking about Johnny Fisher and Michael Pirotton, and fair enough, that is the headline act. But the fight that will actually tell you something about a man's career happens before it. Craig Richards against Radivoje Kalajdzic is the real 50-50 on this bill, and the loser does not get another one of these.
Richards is from Crystal Palace and he is boxing in his own city. He gets the walk, he gets the noise, he gets the lot. Make no mistake though — the away corner has been filled with a genuinely dangerous light-heavyweight, and that is not an accident. Somebody has decided Craig Richards needs to prove it or go away.
What Richards Actually Has Left
Let's not beat around the bush about where he is. In 2021 Richards challenged Dmitry Bivol for the WBA light-heavyweight title and lost a unanimous decision that was miles closer than the paperwork suggested. Bivol then went on to become the best 175lb fighter on the planet and beat Artur Beterbiev. So that night ages beautifully. Richards was competitive with the division's best when nobody outside Britain rated him.
The problem is what came after. Five years is a long time to be near the top without getting back to it, and the light-heavyweight division has not stood still waiting for him. He is 35 now. He is not getting a second five years.
"My story hasn't been written yet," Richards said this week. "I didn't do all of this and sacrifice everything to not accomplish my goals to be a world champion." I like that he said it out loud. I like even more that he has taken a fight that backs it up, because plenty of fighters in his position take a Latvian with eleven losses and call it a rebuild.
Kalajdzic Is Not A Name, He Is A Problem
Here is where it gets proper interesting. Kalajdzic comes in off a knockout win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk, a former WBC world champion at the weight. That is not a padded record. He has also been in with Beterbiev, which means he has felt the hardest punching the division has produced this century and is still here doing this.
He is tall, he is rangy, he is awkward, and he has a habit of turning up in other people's home towns and ruining the evening. Every one of those things is bad news for a fighter who needs a statement performance rather than a survival job.
Where The Fight Gets Won
Richards is at his best when he boxes long, works behind the jab and refuses to be dragged into a shootout. When he gets drawn into exchanges he gives rounds away trying to win them. Against Kalajdzic that tendency is genuinely dangerous, because the Serbian carries his power into the late rounds and does not fade the way most rangy light-heavyweights do.
So the blueprint is obvious. Jab, move to the right, do not stand in front of him, and bank the early rounds while Kalajdzic is working out the range. If Richards is still there in the ninth having done that, he wins. If he decides in round four that he needs to look spectacular for the home crowd, he gets stopped.
The Verdict
I am going with Richards on points. 116-112, something around there, and it will feel a lot closer than that reads because Kalajdzic will land two or three shots that make the arena go quiet. Richards has the better feet, he has the better jab, and crucially he has been twelve hard rounds with Dmitry Bivol — there is nothing Kalajdzic does that Richards has not already survived at a higher level.
But I am not confident about it, and anyone telling you they are is guessing. This is a proper fight. If you know, you know — these are the nights that decide whether a career gets a final chapter or a full stop. Richards gets his chapter. Just about.