Joe Cordina reclaimed his IBF super-featherweight world title with a gutsy display against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov last weekend in a Fight of the Year contender. The Welshman gritted his teeth to take Tajikistan’s first ever world champion the distance, dropping him in the second round on his way to a split decision victory.
Fellow Cardiff native and former world champion Barry Jones provided commentary for the world title clash and spoke exclusively to ProBox TV News afterwards.
“In the first round he was stepping in and pivoting and moving beautifully.” Jones said. “Then in the second round he dropped him. I knew Joe could do that, he’s a clever guy. But once he dropped Rakhimov it changed the whole fight. It’s almost as if it became a more difficult fight because Joe knew he could hurt him and then left himself a little more open. But he thought he could get that knockout.
“There were questions to be asked of Cordina. What happens when he takes a big shot? What is he going to do when he gets hurt? That happened in the fifth round, he was in trouble with those shots to the body. But he was smart, he’s always had a good boxing brain. He did well for me in the fifth round, I know it was his worst round, but he proved a lot there. He spun him round, held on and created space. He then ended the round strong. He had to ride out the storm, but he never panicked.”
Cordina (16-0, 9 KOs) became the country’s 13th world champion last year with a knockout of the year over Kenichi Ogawa. But it is this performance that Jones believes has taken his countryman to the next level.
“All fighters are like this! You like them for their skills, but you love them for their heart.” Jones continued. “I go back to my fights. The only fight I ever showed real heart was my last fight when I got beat. I had more love and admiration for that than I did for all my wins. I was out gunned and out classed, but people appreciated that I wouldn’t give up. Joe was like that against Rakhimov but he was winning. Joe has never really had himself tested, never really taken that big shot while he was coming up. You do like to see them get tested before they go up against a fighter as good as Rakhimov. The Ogawa fight was meant to be the test, but he knocked him out in two rounds.
“I had it 115-112, closer than a lot of other people had it. Ironically Rakhimov was doing better when he only had one eye. He was too tough for his own good, like somebody needs to keep an eye on him after that. He had an empty tank after round five, but wouldn’t give in. I said on the radio, this is a real world title fight. Joe just had an answer for everything in the end. He showed to me that he’s a fucking fantastic fighter. He really is, he’s got great boxing skills, he is massive for the weight, he’s found power and he is tough. He constantly moved last weekend, but he never ran.”
The who’s who of Welsh boxing was in attendance throughout the fight week. The nation’s former world champions; Enzo Maccarinelli, Gavin Rees and hall of famer Joe Calzaghe all echoed how important it was that Cordina reclaimed his title for the sake of Welsh boxing.
“It has taken a while for the fanbase to grow in Cardiff.” Jones explained. “He was fighting in Cardiff, but on Anthony Joshua undercards. That was no good, it’s on at four or five in the afternoon and nobody can get a ticket for it. Last weekend it was all people just coming to watch him from his city. The reason why Lee Selby and Gavin Rees couldn’t sell is because they were not from Cardiff. Nathan Cleverly sold a few tickets but it took a while and Joe Calzaghe took forever before he started to sell out. They come from small towns, so if they sold to everyone in their town it might only be 600 people.
“With Joe, he is from the city. Like Steve Robinson, he used to sell well in Cardiff. His first world title defense he sold out the ice-rink, 3,500 people. Nobody ever heard of him. It’s great we have Joe flying the flag now, he might be the best we’ve had. Being from Cardiff, I’m just very proud of him. When he won his world title I couldn’t believe how proud I was of someone else. We need him back out in the summer, but he will need some sort of break because that was a tough fight at the very highest level. Everyone is talking about Cardiff City Stadium. Maybe the end of the summer. Obviously it looks like they are lining up Zelfa Barrett, but I like the talk of Josh Warrington moving up to face Joe. Warrington will help sell tickets, and I think he’s tailormade for Joe. I said the same when he faced Lee Selby infact. But I think Joe is just too good, especially after the last two performances. ”
