‘Hot Rod’ Radivoje Kalajdzic may have a name spelled with the leftover letters from a game of scrabble, but in this case, words can be very deceiving.
Hot Rod, as he is known locally in St Petersburg, Florida, is getting frustrating, as the boxer indicates that notable names are doing their utmost to avoid fighting the all-action Serbian, who once had a fire-fight with the Chechnyan monster Artur Betebiev.
A few weeks removed from his first round demolition of Ernest Amuzu in his backyard of Tampa Florida on the sold out crossover influencer card dubbed the Creator Clash; Rod is back in the swing of things training as if tomorrow is a world title fight. His other most notable fight comes in a controversial decision loss to former titleholder Marcus Browne.
Rod discussed the status of his career and his hopes for the future.
He said, “I’m waiting for that phone to call, but I realize I’m not exactly on speed dial for most guys. My manager Ryan Rickey has kept me active, and we are in the gym every day working away to improve, so if that call comes on short notice, we are ready.”
The refugee from war-torn former Soviet Union was contracted to fight Callum Johnson earlier this year, he continued, “My manager Ryan Rickey along with my promotor Lou Dibella worked hard to put the fight together only to find out the day of the press conference that Callum was injured and had gone mysteriously missing”.
“Maybe I shouldn’t tell people I’m in the gym all the time, because that’s going to make people not want to fight me even more. I’m an honest man though, and a professional boxer. Professional boxers are supposed to fight the best competition out there and I am the best competition any light heavyweight can have in the world right now. I’m ready for anyone they put in front of me.”
Hot Rod was recently ringside to witness Jean Pascal rejuvenate his career against New Jersey-based Fanlong Meng, handing the Chinese standout his first career loss in central Florida on ProBox TV.
Rod assessed a potential clash between himself and the multi-time world champion Pascal, “Pascal boxed a good fight against Meng, it was close, it could have gone either way but I had Pascal winning the fight. He still has miles in the tank and that showed against Meng.
“Would I fight Pascal? I’d fight him in his back garden if I had to. That’s how badly I want that fight. I need a name like Pascal to take me to the next level and land me another world title opportunity. It really doesn’t matter who. The result will be the same. Callum Johnson, Anthony Yarde, Dan Azeez, Joshua Buatsi, Lyndon Arthur. Meng or Pascal. With all due respect, if I can’t beat Pascal now, I’m never going to be world champion, so that is a fight I need to show I’m world title worthy.”