Radivoje Kalajdzic, better known as “Hot Rod,” believes his stunning come-from-behind victory over Oleksandr Gvozydyk announced him as one of the major players at 175lbs.

A long-time contender who was born in Serbia but now makes his home in Florida, Kalajdzic scored a sensational victory when, despite being dropped in Rounds 4 and 7, he roared back with two knockdowns of Gvozydyk in the decisive seventh round Saturday at the Apex in Las Vegas. 

Yet for all of the deserved hoopla around his win, Kalajdzic admitted he was disappointed with how he had fought until the end came.

“I started off, you could say, bad,” he told BoxingScene. “My timing was off, my rhythm, the 15-month layoff, I guess, really had an effect on me. I just couldn't find my groove, couldn’t find my distance, and just as each round went by, I started finding myself a little bit more and more. And I started listening to my coaches, and then I finally found my distance and started laying the jab in, the right hand, and then things finally started going my way.”

Kalajdzic had not fought since a loss to Cuban star David Morrell Jnr  last July in Los Angeles.

He is now 30-3 (22 KOs), and was taken aback by his own slow start.

“I felt good going into the fight,” he said. “I didn’t have the best camp, either, but overall I felt good [going in]. I knew I could beat him. I just had to fight and box the way I do. But it didn’t start off that way. He caught me off by surprise. My eyes weren’t as good, my feet, my timing – just everything was off the first half of the fight. I guess it was ring rust, but it finally clicked and I got the knockout. I knew I was behind a lot, so I knew I had to do something. My coach told me that I had to tighten up and believe in myself and go and get the job done, and that’s what I did.”

Kalajdzic’s right hand was the hammer, and Gvozdyk, nicknamed “The Nail,” was exactly that.

“As soon as I started letting my hands go the way I’m supposed to, when it started landing, I couldn’t miss and I felt good,” Kalajdzic said. “I just felt good. Everything I threw was starting to land. I just had to throw it with bad intentions. Each round that went by, you could say, time got slower, the fight started to make sense, I started becoming more relaxed. And, yeah, each round, I felt I got better, the momentum started to change little by little, especially after the fifth.”

As “Hot Rod” prepared for the bout, he had seen Gvozdyk come on strong against David Benavidez more than a year ago, to the extent that Benavidez began to look surprisingly one-paced.

A bout with Benavidez is one Kalajdzic would like.

“I would love that fight,” he said. “I’m here to fight the best. Whoever they put in front of me, I’ll fight. So if he comes down [from 200lbs, where Benavidez is due to fight Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in May] and that fight presents itself, I would love to take it. I think Benavidez’s speed might be too much for Zurdo, but we’ll see if the weight affects Benavidez. But overall, I think it’s going to be a great fight for the fans.”

Kalajdzic says he is ready to go again. He would like to fight in April or May but is unsure what will come next – although he would be happy back at the Apex.

“Overall, they treated us really good,” he said of his Zuffa Boxing experience, having been one of the first to box under that banner.

“They’re very on point, very, very good with everything. It was nice [at the venue]. The fans get to see great action. They're up close. It's a great venue, but it's not a big one. But it's perfect. You could just see every week or hear every punch, hear everything. You could hear the fans. It's great. I liked it. And the production was amazing.”

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.