28 year old light heavyweight Lionell “Lonnie B” Thompson (15-2-0, 9KOs) is looking to keep his streak of three straight wins alive as the highlight of the undercard of the Kovalev-Agnew fight at Boardwalk Hall on March 29 with his ten round match-up against the undefeated Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic (14-0-0, 10 KOs) originally of Zenica, Bosnia.
Lonnie’s three straight victories include two unanimous decisions, one on December 14, 2013 against Ryan Coyne in ten rounds as the co-feature on NBCSN Fight Night at Resorts in Atlantic City, NJ, the other an eight round unanimous decision victory over Yathomas Riley at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, NY on May 11, 2013, and a second round TKO against Chuck Mussachio at Bally’s Event Center in Atlantic City, NJ on February 23, 2013.
He said, “It is very important for me to keep the momentum going after three straight wins but I really don’t focus on that. I just don’t plan on losing for the rest of my career. I just think about dominating every opponent I get in the ring with.”
Thompson has not lost since September 21, 2012 when he suffered a third round TKO (on nine days’ notice) at the hands of Main Events stable mate Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, who is coincidentally defending his WBO Light Heavyweight Title in the main event on March 29. Lonnie reflects on the Kovalev fight as a great learning experience and a chance to prove he can get right back in the ring.
He said, “After the Kovalev fight I came right back and I think a lot of people are overlooking that. A lot of guys take a loss and take like ten months off. I came in as an opponent and dominated my next three opponents. I didn’t take the easy fights. I came in with all odds against me.”
Lonnie is originally from Buffalo, NY but he is training for this fight in Manhattan, NY at Mendez Boxing. He said he has a great sparring partner to help him prepare to fight Kalajdzic, “I have a sparring fighter that fights exactly like him but just a little more aggressive. My sparring partner is Russian and he works out perfect to prepare me for this fight. He doesn’t speak the language but he is strong as hell. I’m ready.”
The undefeated Kalajdzic has a 71% knockout-to-win-ratio but Thompson’s manager, Kevin Diever, does not think that will matter, “He has never faced anybody with the competition of Lionell. He has a protected record. Lionell is quicker and has the ability to destroy this guy. This time he is both physically and mentally prepared. He is going to have contend with the best version of Lionell.”
According to Main Events’ matchmaker Jolene Mizzone, Kalajdzic wanted this fight, “This is a fight where the opponent called and specifically asked to fight Thompson. Getting opponents for Lonnie is not easy. Kalajdzic is young and hungry and he wants to fight the guy that no one wants to fight. That says a lot about him. This will be Kalajdzic’s biggest test to date.”
