Kalajdzic dropped Richards in the final seconds of their light heavyweight bout at London's Copper Box Arena, before winning 97-92 across all three judges' scorecards.

With this victory, the 35-year-old Serbian hopes to remain active and wants a quick turnaround.

“Another top guy,” Kalajdzic told The Ring when asked who he wants next.

“I just want to stay busy and keep fighting with these top guys. [I don’t want] to have a long break in between fights. That's what messed me up for the [Oleksandr] Gvozdyk fight. Hopefully I’ll fight in January or February.”

As far as top names in the 175-pound division, he's eyeing the winner of Joshua Buatsi-Willy Hutchinson II. The pair will contest the interim WBC strap on November 7 at Manchester's Co-op Live, exclusively on DAZN.

Hutchinson (20-2, 14 KOs) will look to avenge his 12-round split decision defeat by Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs) two years after they met on the Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois undercard in September 2024.

Kalajdzic is ranked No. 1 by the WBO and sits three places lower with the WBA and WBC sanctioning bodies at the time of writing.

“Whoever they put in front of me, I don't mind,” Kalajdzic said. “I would like the Buatsi-Hutchinson winner, just fought in London and wouldn't mind getting the winner of that, but [I'll fight] anybody.”

Kalajdzic felt ring rust during the early rounds before a stoppage in the seventh against Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Here, it felt as though the longtime contender picked up where he left off during their frantic firefight on February 1.

Kalajdzic found the range jab and straight right hand early, leaning on those punches throughout against Richards.

The straight right hurt the Brit on multiple occasions, including early in the sixth when sent reeling to the ropes. Richards' durability helped him through some of the fight's tougher moments.

The 36-year-old has gone the distance against unified light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, Buatsi and Hutchinson without touching the canvas.

“I figured I was gonna be able to hurt him, but he's tough,” Kalajdzic said. “He hits hard, and every time you hurt him, he comes back.”

With 15 seconds left, Kalajdzic finally broke through. He landed another blistering straight right that sent Richards tumbling backwards before he fell into the ropes. Richards rose on unsteady legs, but the final bell had rung.

“Maybe if I would have just pressured a little earlier, I could have [stopped him],” Kalajdzic said. “I was waiting for him to gas and throw as many punches, then was going to finish off strong.”