By David Williams
Joe Cordina is in confident mood as he prepares to make a second defence of his IBF super-featherweight crown in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night against Belfast’s IBO world champion, Anthony Cacace.
Cordina – already Wales’ most successful boxer since the days of Joe Calzaghe – knows he will have the eyes of the world upon him as the warm-up act in Riyadh for Tyson Fury’s monumental undisputed heavyweight title clash against Oleksandr Usyk.
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But the Cardiff fighter is relaxed and focussed as he looks forward to stretching his unbeaten professional record to 18 bouts.
“Against Cacace, I’ve just gotta do what I’ve gotta do,” said Cordina.
“Whether it’s stand up close and have a tear up – I’m used to that. Whether it’s boxing on the back foot – I’m used to that also.
“Whether it gets messy – I don’t mind that either. Whatever means necessary, I’ll get the win. It’d be lovely [to get a knockout] – early night.
“Then, I want to move up to lightweight. It’s not hard making the weight, it just seems like it’s impossible to get all of the other champions into the ring.
“Everyone talks on social media, but when it comes down to it no one wants to take the short straw just to make that fight happen – they all want the maximum money.
“Don’t get me wrong – we all wanna get paid. But sometimes we have to take a little cut just to get them in the ring to get them going. Then we can ask for what we want when we’re unified champions.
“Unfortunately, everyone overprices themselves, and some of them can’t fill out their living room.
“It’s a bit difficult then, so I’d rather go up to lightweight, try and challenge for a belt up at lightweight and get a big name. It’s a win-win then.
“I see a tweet that [Shakur Stevenson] put out. Eddie [Hearn, my promoter] knows how to promote. That could be something – I’ll speak to Eddie, but first and foremost I gotta get the job done on Saturday.”
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Cordina is the favourite for the Riyadh bout and has proven he is equally adept at explosive finishes or working through a points victory, depending on the circumstances.
“He’s a tricky fighter, an IBO world champion and believes he’s one of the best in the division, but so am I,” added Cordina.
“He’s known to punch hard, and, although I haven’t sparred with him, I can see he’s awkward as well, so it’ll be a back-and-forth fight in terms of momentum.
“But I’ve been in the ring with awkward fighters and I’m sure with my 200 fights all in all, as an amateur and as a pro, I’ve come across someone similar and I believe I’ll get a good win.”
@AntoC6 12 Years READY for Joe Cordina on Saturday Night in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for the IBF and IBO Super Featherweight World titles pic.twitter.com/Qz4SWaRTUo
— Irish-Boxing.com (@Irishboxingcom) May 16, 2024
But Cacace is fearless as he prepares for the biggest fight of his 12-year professional career.
At 35, he is three years older than Cordina but he says: “No man scares me – as long as I’ve done everything in the gym, prepared well and everything’s gone to plan there’s no man scares me.
“Joe’s a two-time world champion and I’m a big underdog. I think he’s very good but beatable. We’re two men at the end of the day and going into a fight so anything can happen.
“He’s fast, he’s smart and he’s got a brilliant ring IQ. I’ll just work him, work him hard and one thing I know about myself is that I can punch hard so we’re just going to have to see on the night.
“I genuinely believe that everything that has happened in my career has happened for a reason. It’s led me to here, to Saudi and an IBF title shot against a great champion in Joe Cordina.
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