Beterbiev vs Kalajdzic results and highlights: Artur Beterbiev and Jerwin Ancajas retain IBF titles on ESPN

Artur Beterbiev retained his IBF light heavyweight title and remained unbeaten, going to 14-0 (14 KO) with a fifth round stoppage win over Radivoje Kalajdzic (24-2, 17 KO) in tonight’s ESPN main event.

Beterbiev put Kalajdzic down in the third round, and finished him off early in the fifth.

With Canelo-Jacobs going on, we didn’t have a chance to really dig into this card, but we do have full results and highlights for you.

Gabriel Flores Jr KO-3 Eduardo Reis

This was a hometown showcase for 19-year-old prospect Flores, who goes to 13-0 (6 KO) with an absolute MONSTER of a KO in the third round:

If you’re wondering why ESPN put a six-round showcase on the main card and not the ESPN+ prelims, it’s because Flores was responsible for this show selling around 10,000 tickets in his hometown. And the crowd was just absolutely insane for him, it was an electric atmosphere even streaming through a tablet.

And give credit to Brazil’s Reis (23-6, 19 KO), too, because he came to fight as the B-side underdog. He got KO’d for it, but he put in the honest effort.

Jerwin Ancajas TKO-7 Ryuichi Funai

The stoppage came at the doctor’s advice just as the seventh round started, so time of stoppage was 0:01. This was a more on-paper impressive performance for Ancajas (31-1-2, 21 KO) than his last couple of outings. Funai falls to 31-8 (22 KO).

Undercard results

• Light heavyweight Felix Valera (18-2, 15 KO) stopped Mario Aguilar (20-7, 17 KO) at 2:29 of the fourth round when the referee stepped in.

• Brian Mendoza stayed unbeaten, going to 17-0 (12 KO) with a nasty second round knockout of Carlos Rodriguez (12-8-1, 5 KO). Mendoza hadn’t fought since Nov. 2017, and was just signed by Top Rank. He’ll settle in at welterweight going forward.

• Super bantamweight Vislan Dalkhaev (11-1, 3 KO) beat Vincent Jennings (6-7-2, 4 KO) over six rounds on scores of 59-55, 59-55, and 60-54.
• In a six-round bout, local middleweight Quilisto Madera (12-2, 8 KO) shut out Osbaldo Camacho Gonzalez (6-4, 4 KO) on scores of 60-54 across the board.e
• Sacramento cruiserweight Blake McKernan (12-0, 6 KO) picked up a win over Joey Montoya (9-7-3, 3 KO) on scores of 78-73, 79-72, and 79-72. Montoya had some clown qualities.
• Jesus Godinez (3-3, 2 KO) scored a mild upset over hometown fighter Marco Arroyo (2-1, 1 KO) in a four-round fight. The difference was a knockdown in the second round for Godinez, who won on scores of 38-37, 38-37, and 37-38. It would’ve been a majority draw otherwise.