Boxing Results: Josh Padley Rebounds From Shakur Stevenson Loss With Victory Over Marko Cvetanovic In Sheffield

Lightweight contender Josh Padley (16-1, 5 KOs) bounced back from his recent loss, scoring a fifth-round technical knockout of Marko Cvetanovic (13-1, 6 KOs) on Saturday night at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield, England.

(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)

The Locomotive

In his first fight under his new Matchroom contract, the former electrician Padley dropped the gangly, light-hitting Cvetanovic down twice in the fifth round to get the stoppage. Referee Steve Gray halted the contest after the second knockdown of the round. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:13 of round five.

Although Cvetanovic, 29, beat the count, Gray opted to stop the fight. The Serbian was just getting beaten up in every round, showing zero power, and he had nothing to offer. He was obviously well-chosen by Matchroom and deemed harmless for Padley.

In the first knockdown, Padley came charging forward, landing nonstop left-right combinations in a piston-like manner. He looked like an old locomotive with the way he was throwing his combos while charging the retreating Cvetanovic. When Josh trapped him against the ropes, he hammered him to the canvas with repeated shots.

Cvetanovic showed a lot of heart getting up and choosing to continue fighting because he had just eaten 15 headshots in that sequence. Granted, Padley can’t break eggs, but with the way he was pounding on him, he’d already taken enough. When the action resumed, Padley was all over him, attacking recklessly.

Cvetanovic caught Padley with a big right hand that was thrown with everything he had, but he took the shot well. Padley continued to unload with the final barrage before sending him down after connecting with three hard right hands to the head. When Cvetanovic got up, referee Steve Gray opted to halt the fight.

The Bounce Back

Padley was coming off a ninth-round knockout loss to WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on February 22nd in Riyadh. Promoter Eddie Hearn, who was the one who picked Padley over the far more dangerous Cuban southpaw Jadier Herrera for Shakur to fight, liked what he saw so much that he signed him to a contract. Most fans weren’t impressed with Padley.

They were more disgusted with Shakur, who hurt his brittle hands and showed little power in the fight against a guy that wouldn’t have lasted more than one or two rounds against lightweight champion Gervonta Davis or Keyshawn Davis.