Joe
Cordina

Rio Olympian, Joe Cordina was touted by many to be a future star of the sport in years to come. Possessing blistering hand-speed and authoritative ring IQ, the ‘Welsh Wizard’ has caught the eye of the boxing public since he turned professional in 2017.

Joe won his first Title in his seventh pro fight, stopping Hakim Ben Ali to become WBA International Lightweight Champ. By summer of 2019, Cordina had won and defended the British and Commonwealth titles.

The Welshman moved down to Super-Featherweight at the back end of 2019 and reached the summit of the sport with a KO of the year contender against IBF World Champion Kenichi Ogawa in the summer of 2022 in front of his own fans in Cardiff.

Cordina was scheduled to defend his World Title in Abu Dhabi in November against Shavkat Rakhimov only to break his hand with his very first punch of camp. The 31-year-old was stripped of the IBF strap as a result, with Zelfa Barrett as his replacement in the Middle East.

The Welsh Wizard was signed to fight the winner and landed a chance to become a two-time World Champion back in Cardiff in April 2023 against hard-hitting Rakhimov. Cordina put Rakhimov down in the second round before grinding out a split decision victory to regain his World Title in a thrilling contest.

After failing to secure a unification bout, Cordina returned to Monaco for a voluntary defence against Edward Vazquez and edged out a close majority decision victory after a tough fight with the American.

After a delay to Fury-Usyk, Cordina had to wait until May 2024 before his next outing, where he suffered a shock eighth round stoppage defeat to Anthony Cacace, relinquishing his IBF World Title in the process before declaring he would now look to move back to Lightweight.