Joe Cordina is completed stressing over the circumstances that left him as an ex-titleholder.
The one focus now could be to turn into a two-time title claimant and to re-establish himself because the face and voice of Welsh boxing.
The unbeaten former IBF junior light-weight titlist is favored by a substantial margin to regain his belt, which is at the moment held by Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov. The 2 meet this Saturday atop a DAZN present from Cardiff Worldwide Area in Cordina’s hometown of Cardiff, Wales.
A house crowd and -300 betting odds (in response to bet365 sportsbook) look good on paper. There’s additionally the insistence that Cordina ought to nonetheless have the belt that many felt was unceremoniously faraway from his possession.
None of that may matter as soon as the 2 make their option to the ring this Saturday.
“He’s a world champion on the finish of the day,” Cordina acknowledged of Tajikistan’s Rakhimov. “I’ve seen him. He’s robust, he’s sturdy, he’s match. However I consider that I’ve that little bit extra that he doesn’t must beat me.
“The anthems and performances are all good on the night time. At the start, we now have to get that win. We want that win to carry huge nights of boxing again to Cardiff, like Joe Calzaghe did.”
Cordina (15-0, 9KOs) was on his approach following a spotlight reel second-round knockout of Kenichi Ogawa final June 4 in Cardiff. The win noticed the unbeaten Welshman declare the IBF belt which he was ready to subsequent defend versus Rakhimov (17-0-1, 14KOs) as his obligatory challenger.
Plans for his or her November 5 conflict in Abu Dhabi vanished with the primary punch thrown by Cordina in coaching camp final summer time. He broke his hand, which got here after he’d already beforehand filed a medical exception with the IBF to recuperate from a separate harm. With none remaining appeals, Cordina was compelled to let go of the belt which Rakhimov claimed in a ninth-round knockout of Zelfa Barrett on the November 5 Abu Dhabi card.
Absolutely healed, Cordina is now ready to enter a second reign and usher in a brand new period of boxing in his residence nation.
“That was at all times my plan after I got here into professional boxing, when Joe retired,” Cordina stated of the legacy left behind by Wales’ Calzaghe, a Corridor of Fame two-division champ who retired undefeated. “We noticed Lee Selby turn into world champion (at featherweight) however he by no means actually cemented this as his residence as a fighter.
“That’s what I need to do. After that final win we had final June, that was the beginning. We had a little bit of a brick. So now, I get this title again on Saturday and that’s the beginning. That’s when all the large fights will begin occurring as soon as once more.”
Jake Donovan is a senior author for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox