Joe Cordina returns to the Cardiff International Arena on Saturday, 10 months on from spectacularly becoming a world champion in front of his enraptured hometown crowd.
Cordina (15-0, 9 KOs) uncorked a perfect right-hand to score a one-punch knockout in the second round against Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa and win the IBF super featherweight title.
The 31-year-old Welshman has not boxed since and still boasts an unblemished professional record. But this weekend, he will enter the ring as a challenger against Shavkat Rakhimov… the IBF super featherweight champion.
So, what’s gone on there?
MORE: Watch Rakhimov vs. Cordina on DAZN
Joe Cordina: Career and titles won
Cordina turned professional with promoter Matchroom in 2017 after a decorated amateur career.
He won lightweight bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and claimed gold in the same category at the 2015 European Championships.
Defeat to Brazil’s Robson Conceicao followed in the quarterfinals of that year’s AIBA World Championships and Cordina’s Olympic dream at Rio 2016 ended in the round of 16 via a split-decision loss to Khurshid Tojibaev of Uzbekistan.
Eight months on from his Olympic experience, Cordina stepped out as a professional for the first time, stopping Jose Aguilar in the final round of a scheduled four.
Within a year-and-a-half, he had his first professional title when he won a wide unanimous decision over Sean Dodd in Cardiff to lift the Commonwealth lightweight crown.
Cordina added the British strap at 135lbs in his next fight, decking Andy Townend three times in a sixth-round stoppage, and retained both belts over 12 against Welsh compatriot Gavin Gwynne.
That preceded a drop down to super featherweight, where comfortable 10-round wins over Enrique Tinoco and the previously undefeated Miko Khatchatryan did nothing to prepare fans for the stunning, violent conclusion to his world title challenge against the experienced Ogawa.
Why did Joe Cordina get stripped of the IBF super featherweight title?
Cordina was slated to defend his title against Rakhimov on the undercard of Dmitry Bivol’s WBA light heavyweight showdown with Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez on November 5 in Abu Dhabi.
However, on his return to training after the Ogawa win, Cordina broke his right hand and required surgery, meaning a lengthy stint on the sidelines. Because he couldn’t make the fight date, the IBF sanctioned Rakhimov’s fight against Zelfa Barrett for the vacant title, with the Tajikistani southpaw recovering from a third-round knockdown to stop his English opponent in the ninth.
Given that fight took place only five months on from Cordina’s night of triumph and the context of a significant injury, it looks like an unduly harsh call from the IBF, even allowing for its reputation as the most stringent sanctioning body when it comes to enforcing its own rules around mandatories.
“Absolutely gutted. Worked my whole life to become a world champion and I haven’t even had the chance to defend the title. Feel like I’ve been robbed,” Cordina tweeted, alongside a picture of the gruesome post-surgery scar on his right hand.
Absolutely gutted 🤦🏻♂️
— Joe Cordina OLY (@JoeCordina_91) October 4, 2022
Worked my whole life to become a world champion and I haven’t even had the chance to defend the title 🤷🏻♂️
Feel like I’ve been robbed !! https://t.co/TILrvTDaAz pic.twitter.com/jVvZeAdaf3
But the IBF’s decision was rooted in the circumstances of how Ogawa vs. Cordina came to pass.
Rakhimov (17-0-1, 14 KOs) was the mandatory challenger for Ogawa, who won the vacant title in November 2021 against Azinga Fuzile, who Rakhimov knocked out in 2019.
Ogawa’s meeting with Cordina was allowed as an “optional defence” on the proviso that the winner would face Rakhimov by September 2, 2022.
In July 2022, a month after Cordina’s KO of Ogawa, his team requested a medical extension for the Rakhimov defence to take place by November 5. Then the injury happened and, under IBF rule 11(J): “A reigning champion shall not be permitted to request more than one exception to delay a mandatory obligation.”
As a result of the severity of Cordina’s injury and the recuperation time he required, the IBF super featherweight title was declared vacant. The request to delay the Rakhimov fight from September 2 to November 5 meant, under IBF rules, he had already played his "get out of jail free" card.
So, this weekend, Cordina finds himself in the unusual position of attempting to regain the championship he won in his last fight and never lost in the ring. Only in boxing.