Marcus Browne beats Radivoje Kalajdzic in robbery

By Boxing News - 04/16/2016 - Comments

browne(Photo credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment) By Dan Ambrose: Undefeated #7 WBA, #13 WBC light heavyweight contender Marcus Browne (18-0, 13 KOs) won a highly controversial 8 round split decision win over previously unbeaten Radivoje Kalajdzic (21-1, 14 KOs) on Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The final judges’ scores were 76-74 and 76-75 for Browne, and 76-74 for Kalajdzic. Browne was given credit for a 1st round knockdown in which he didn’t land a punch. Kalajdzic slipped to the canvas without being hit. To add insult to injury, Browne hit Kalajdzic with a shot while he was down. Kalajdzic appeared to do more than enough to deserve the victory.

In the 6th round, Kalajdzic dropped Browne with a right hand to the head.

From the 6th round on, Browne held and tried to keep from getting hit. The last three rounds were all Kalajdzic.

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In light of the blown call by the referee in the 1st round in giving Browne credit for a knockdown over Kalajdzic in a situation where no punch was even landed, there should be a rematch to clear up the decision. The referee really had an off night by not only blowing that call, but not penalizing Browne for hitting Kalajdzic after he was down on the canvas. Browne nailed Kalajdzic with a big shot to the head while he was clearly down. That should have been either a penalization or a disqualification. Instead, Browne got away with that, as well as getting credit for a knockdown where he land a blow.

What was troubling after the fight was hearing how Browne was satisfied with his victory over Kalajdzic, and he didn’t seem to realize how the fight was perceived by the boxing fans that were at ringside. Browne seemed to be unclear how badly he had performed, especially after getting knocked down in the 6th. From that point on in the fight, Browne was holding, retreating and throwing desperate looking pot shots. It was clear that Kalajdzic won the last three rounds of the fight, as well as the 4th round. That should have made the fight a draw with the blown call in the 1st round. It would have been a win for Kalajdzic if there were instant replay in boxing, because it was a slip on the part of Kalajdzic in falling down without getting hit.

Browne will very likely move on with his career without giving Kalajdzic a rematch, but the flaws we saw in Browne’s game in this fight will surely be highlighted in future fights down the road. If Browne can’t beat a fighter in the caliber of Kalajdzic, then he has no chance of beating the better fighters like Sergey Kovalev, Artur Beterbiev, Adonis Stevenson. At best, Browne will get a title shot and a payday against Kovalev and/or Stevenson, but that’s all I see him getting. I think those fighters are a lot better than Browne. There’s a talent difference between those guys and Browne in my view that will be there for Browne’s entire career.