By Erik Schmidt: Undefeated cruiserweight contender Alexander Alexeev (16-0, 15 KOs) destroyed journeyman Rob Calloway (70-8-2, 56 KOs) in a 3rd round TKO on Saturday night to hold retain his WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title at the Color Line Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany. Alexeev, 27, ranked #2 in the WBO, dropped Calloway with a flurry of shots early in the 3rd round. Soon after he got up, Calloway was finished off three straight left hands from Alexeev, knocking the American to the canvas for a second time in the round. Calloway, badly hurt, groggily got to his knees, but referee Luis Pabon called a halt to the fight at 2:34 of the third round.
Calloway, 39, who’s currently ranked #15 in the IBF. WBC and WBO, was thought to have been someone that could give Alexeev some competition. However, the fight was largely one-sided from the very start, as stalked Calloway around the ring, hitting him with jabs to the midsection, straight left hands to the head and short right hooks. Calloway, normally a fighter with excellent offensive skills, found it almost impossible to any of his shots against Alexeev. When he would try to come forward to land, Alexeev would back away and tag him with short right hooks and straight left hands while retreating.
After awhile, Calloway pretty much stopped trying to punch altogether, and instead focused on defense almost entirely, moving around the ring and trying to keep from getting hit by Alexeev. It didn’t work, however, because the southpaw Alexeev would move in quickly, fire off jabs to the midsection and nail him with straight lefts. Having seen Calloway fight on several other occasions, it was unusual to see him look so helpless in a fight, because he usually is quite competitive with his opponents, even in the cases where he’s been stopped.
However, Alexeev toyed with him in the first two rounds, hitting him with ease and not getting a scratch in the process. Near the end of the first round, Calloway attempted to land a right hand, but missed badly as Alexeev backed away quickly, causing Calloway to stumble forward and almost fall to the canvas. He looked awkward, but it only because Alexeev was just so elusive and hard to hit. On a couple of occasions in the first round, it looked as if Calloway was finally going to land a shot or two, but each time he would wind up and throw a punch, Alexeev, would back away, circle around him and hit him with a counter shot.
In the second, Alexeev continued hitting Calloway at will, battering him with straight left hands and short right hooks. Calloway tired half-heartedly to land a few right hands, but only succeed in missing badly and looking clumsy. There was nothing wrong with his hands speed, though, because he was about as quick as Alexeev. The problem was that Alexeev was just too skillful with his feet, which enabled him to get out of the way of Calloway when he would try to initiate contact with him.
As the round was ending, Calloway twice attempted to come forward and land a shot, but on both occasions, Alexeev backed away and hit him with a short right hook while retreating. Both shots caused Calloway to stumble, as if he hadn’t expected them. In the 3rd round, Alexeev opened up with a series of jab, and then quickly fired a devastating straight left hand that knocked Calloway backwards to the ropes from the force of the blow.
Alexeev then came after him and hit him with a left-right combination, and then a big left hand that caused Calloway to take a knee at 2:00 of the round. Instead of going after Calloway to try for a knockout, Alexeev fought relaxed, slowly following Calloway around the fight and looking for one good shot. At this point, Calloway was desperate, firing punches without aim hoping to avoid somehow being knocked out. Alexeev, to his credit, continued skillfully avoiding Calloway’s shots, and easily avoided every punch that he attempted during this time.
As the round was nearing the end, Alexeev hit Calloway with a straight left hand on the jaw, and then hit him with another big left hand that snapped Calloway’s head, causing him to stagger backwards in retreat. Alexeev then came running at him and hit him and hit him with a left hand, which sent him down to the canvas. While Calloway was falling, Alexeev attempted to hit him with a finishing right hand but missed. The punch wasn’t needed, however, because Calloway was badly shaken from the knockdown, and was only able to make it to his knees when the referee Luis Pabon jumped in and stopped the fight at 2:34 of the 3rd round.
Overall, Alexeev looked very impressive, and perhaps good enough to challenge for a title. At #2 in the WBO, it seems that he’s headed for a showdown against #1 contender Jonathan Banks, who I think he’d probably beat as easily as he did Calloway. Although it’s still too early to tell for sure, Alexeev may be the best cruiserweight in the division already. It’s too bad that David Hayed moved up to heavyweight, because it would have been interesting to see how Alexeev would have done against him. It’s perhaps good for him that he moved up because I think Alexeev would have given Haye a boxing lesson if given the chance.