Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov and Joe Cordina kick off fight week
Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov and Joe Cordina kicked off fight week with a face off at the iconic Cardiff Castle last night ahead of their IBF Super-Featherweight World Title clash at the Cardiff International Arena this Saturday April 22, shown live worldwide on DAZN (excluding Australia and New Zealand).
Cardiff Castle is one of Wales' leading heritage attractions and a site of international significance, boasting 2000 years of history in the heart of the city. Cordina will be looking to create some more history of his own this weekend as he bids to become a two-time World Champion.
‘The Welsh Wizard’ (15-0, 9 KOs) captured the famous red and gold belt with a stunning one-punch knockout of Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa on a memorable night at the arena last June to become his country’s latest World Champion. It was a specific punch he and trainer Tony Sims had practised for hours in the gym and took just 75 seconds to win the fight for them.
Cordina was scheduled to make the first defence of his World Title against Rakhimov in Abu Dhabi last November but suffered a hand injury that required surgery and was subsequently stripped of his title by the IBF. "Yeah, I jus don't think it's fair," Joe said at the time. "I think was stripped wrongly and I think a lot of people would say the same."
"I had the operation and it was after my surgery that I knew I was getting stripped," he continued. "Yeah, that wasn't a nice moment of my life, I was in a bit of a bad place, I didn't want to see people."
Tajikistan’s Rakhimov (17-0-1, 14 KOs) won the vacant title by stopping Manchester’s Zelfa Barrett in nine rounds on the undercard of Dmitry Bivol vs. Gilberto Ramirez, and the 28-year-old southpaw is relishing the challenge of defending his crown in Cordina’s backyard.
Reflecting on his win, the unbeaten Asian said, "My goal was to work non-stop, and I knew that the result would be there. I was very glad to get my name written in history."
Defending champ Rakhimov, trained by Freddie roach and managed by Egis Klimas, wasted no time in accepting the fight with former titlist Cordina, who said, "I'm going into this fight, yeah, as a challenger, but in my head I'm a world champion and I got the confidence of a world champion."
The southpaw, who was also an IBO World champion between 2017-2019, responded with a warning to his challenger, "It'll be a surprise for him."
Rakhimov vs. Cordina headlines a huge night of boxing in Cardiff; Welsh rivals Gavin Gwynne (15-2-1, 3 KOs) and Craig Woodruff (12-6-1, 4 KOs) rematch for the British Lightweight Title following their thrilling draw at the Bolton Whites Hotel last September, Manchester Cruiserweight Jordan Thompson (14-0, 11 KOs) puts his IBF European Title on the line against Swindon’s Luke Watkins (16-2, 11 KOs), Derby's Sandy Ryan (5-1, 2 KOs) clashes with Canada's Marie Pier Houle (8-0-1, 2 KOs) for the vacant WBO Welterweight Title, Manchester's former World Title challenger Zelfa Barrett (28-2, 16 KOs) faces the USA's Jason Sanchez (16-3, 9 KOs) for the WBA Continental Super-Featherweight Title, Australia's Skye Nicolson (6-0) steps up against Peru's Linda Laura Lecca (15-6-2, 3 KOs) over eight rounds at Featherweight, Swansea Super-Bantamweight Brandon Scott (4-0, 1 KO) takes on India's Karan Gill (3-0, 1 KO) over four rounds, Newport Super-Featherweight Nathan Howells (5-0-1) meets Oldbury's Jahfieus Faure over four rounds, Swansea Light-Heavyweight Sammy Lee (1-0) fights Latvia's Juris Zundovskis (6-5, 5 KOs) over six rounds and Kingston Heavyweight Miles Gordan-Darby (3-0) takes on Swindon's Phil Williams (5-41-1, 1 KO) over four rounds.Limited remaining tickets can be purchased via Stage Front.
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