Midweek Heat on ProBox TV: Kalajdzic, Foster Shine

Florida import Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic of Serbia (28-2, 20 KOs) is making his sparring time with unified champion Artur Beterbiev pay off. The light heavyweight defeated Mickey “The Caveman” Ellison of England (14-5, 5 KOs) by TKO in round eight in the exciting midweek ProBox Card main event at the ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida.

Mickey Ellison gave Radivoje Kalajdzic a solid effort but ultimately yielded to “Hot Rod's” power punching. Photo: ProBox TV

Ellison didn’t go down easily but succumbed to heavy right hands behind snappy jabs by Kaladjic, followed by an uppercut to seal the win in the eighth round as Ellison began to fade down the stretch. Ellison performed well in the first half of the fight, finding the target with his own hard hooks.

Kaladjic patiently wore Ellison down, culminating in a bloodied nose, a knockdown, and a final follow-up, causing the referee to wave off the fight at 1:55 of the round.

After a loss to Artur Beterbiev in 2019, Radivoje Kalajdzic has become a valued sparring partner and friend. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

Kalajdzic, age 32, returned from 17 months out of the ring since his last win but stayed busy as a sparring partner in Montreal with Beterbiev. He suffered one of his two losses to Beterbiev by knockout in May 2019. He won his three fights since then but prioritized working with Beterbiev in training camp, including through delays in his scheduled bout with Callum Smith.

Beterbiev vs. Smith is rescheduled for January 13 after Beterbiev recovers from an infection following dental surgery. Kalajdzic is a welcome addition to the top of the light heavyweight division. Perhaps Kalajdzic will be among the few to take on Dmitry Bivol, who’s been idle too long.

William Foster III Remains Undefeated

FEROCIOUS FOSTER 🔥

William Foster III & Misael Lopez put on another at war on ProBox TV 👊

Watch live ❗#probox #proboxtv #boxeo #boxeo #upcomingfight #livestream #bettingodds #fightcard pic.twitter.com/rcTZntpsDy

— ProBox TV (@ProBox_TV) September 7, 2023

In the co-main event, junior lightweight prospect William Foster III of New Haven, Connecticut (16-0, 10 KOs) remained undefeated with a ninth-round TKO win over Misael Lopez of Denver (14-4, 5 KOs). Foster’s right hook was on fire, and it was the money punch to close the fight. Although Foster focuses on offense, he’s also defensively responsible, using angles and keeping his head moving offline to avoid incoming fire.

Credit to Lopez, who’s a brave opponent, who never stopped coming. He looked like he was having a great time despite being defeated. We’d welcome Lopez back into the ring when he’s ready any time.

Dominic Valle and Jonas Sultan Score Dual Knockdowns

Dominic Valle remained unbeaten against Damian Alcala. Photo: ProBox TV

In another junior lightweight contest featuring a promising talent, Dominic Valle of Lutz, Florida (7-0, 5 KOs) scored two knockdowns on the way to a six-round decision win against a determined Mexican opponent, Damian Alcala of Tijuana (7-3, 1 KO). Scorecards were 60-52 X 2 and 59-53 for Valle in a skilled performance.

Fan-friendly Filipino fighter Jonas Sultan delivered the goods with a win against home-state fighter Frank Gonzalez. Photo: ProBox TV

Junior featherweight Jonas Sultan of the Philippines (19-6, 11 KOs) scored two knockdowns in his fight against Frank Gonzalez of Florida (12-4, 6 KOs), winning by unanimous decision. Sultan gave up his knockdown advantage on the scorecards when he was deducted two points for hitting Gonzalez while ruled down by the referee.  No scores were announced.

ProBox TV Adds Content, Spares the Price Tag

NY Fights compliments ProBox TV on its growth and business model. On Tuesday, September 5, ProBox informed its subscribers it would pause all paid subscriptions (monthly and annually) for the rest of 2023. Access to all content, including its Wednesday Night Fight series, talk shows, podcasts, and news updates, will be free.

Starting January 2024, fans will have two options to view content: a free ad-supported version and an ad-free subscription.

ProBox has added new talent to its reporting and commentating lineup, including Roy Jones Junior, Tim Bradley Junior, Shawn Porter, and Teddy Atlas, along with Marco Antonio Barrera and Jorge Arce for Spanish language programming. They join Chris Algieri, Paulie Malignaggi, and Juan Manuel Marquez in the lineup as contributors.

Finally, our NY Fights hat tip to Pro Box for employing female ring announcer Beatriz Cadis, a Cuban-born performer who ably handled announcing duties in two languages.