Craig Richards returns to his hometown of London for a decisive fight when he boxes at the Copper Box Arena on September 26, live on Sky Sports.
Richards fights Radivoje Kalajdzic of Belgrade in the main support of Johnny Fisher against Michael Pirotton.
The Crystal Palace man is determined to beat Kalajdzic to return to the World Cup.
Kalajdzic is a high-quality operator coming off an excellent knockout win over former WBC world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He previously boxed Artur Beterbiev and also knocked out former world title challenger Sullivan Barrera.
“I think to go out there and make a run against him, I put my name in the hat for that world title, 100 percent,” Richards said. Sky Sports. “I’m locked in, I’m ready to do a job.
“I want to be world champion”.
In 2021, Richards challenged Dmitry Bivol for the WBA welterweight title, losing by unanimous decision, but closer than expected. Bivol then established himself as the best in the division when he defeated Beterbiev.
That’s the level Richards wants to get back to.
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Richards says his friend Eberechi Eze is an example of how a sportsman should behave and despite his growing fame, he always has time for others.
“My story hasn’t been written yet,” said the Londoner. “I didn’t do all that and I sacrificed everything to not achieve my goals of being world champion.
“So I think I should get a reward. I’m not right, but I feel like the work I’ve done, I should get something out of it. And that’s being world champion.
“Of course, co-main event fight in front of a home crowd, you know that’s a good place to start.
“Run at night and we go forward from there.”
Watch Craig Richards vs Radivoje Kalajdzic live Sky Sports on September 26.