Paulie Malignaggi’s Picks: It’s hard to get excited about Shakur Stevenson-Joe Cordina

When we’d been expecting to see Shakur Stevenson fight William Zepeda, and hoping he’d fight Gervonta “Tank” Davis, it’s difficult to be supportive of Joe Cordina challenging for Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title.

Cordina lost his past fight, unexpectedly, to Anthony Cacace. The sanctioning bodies, typically, don’t award world-title fights to fighters who have just lost, but they also overlook their guidelines whenever they feel like it.

Cordina’s a solid fighter. He’s former world champion, with a recognized name and, like Stevenson, he’s a former Olympian. But I’m not convinced he’s a lightweight, and he’s a less appealing opponent than Zepeda or Davis would be.

From Cordina’s perspective he’s the “B-side” of the fight, and he’s entering it off the back of a loss. He probably shouldn’t be rewarded for that with this opportunity, which means that – particularly with him having split from his trainer Tony Sims – he can treat their fight as a bonus. 

Stevenson’s very, very good at neutralising all styles; he’s very, very difficult to deal with, and he’s very, very difficult to win rounds against and to catch cleanly. But this is a huge opportunity for Cordina to right the wrongs of losing to Cacace, and if he’s able to to do so he’ll be in an even better position than he was when he was still a champion at 130lbs. 

From Stevenson’s perspective, at a time when he’s not as popular as he arguably deserves to be in the United States, it could prove positive that he’s fighting a marketable opponent from Britain. Despite boxing being a global sport, every time you get increased attention from other parts of the world you have a chance to build your profile and reputation. Stevenson doesn’t need Cordina to be well-known in the UK, but by fighting the popular Cordina he’ll be the subject of more intrigue there.

Stevenson’s one of the best fighters in the world, and he’s long been a main-event fighter, but on this occasion he’ll be the chief support to Artur-Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 12. Not unlike with other Riyadh Season promotions, some of the fights scheduled are those that would be main events on most other cards. 

If it’s disappointing we’re not about to see Stevenson-Zepeda, we can also consider it par for the course. Some of the great match-ups that are possible are often ruined by the demands of the business. It’s been suggested to me that it isn’t happening because Zepeda’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya couldn’t get options on Stevenson; that because Stevenson’s a free agent and would be the favourite to beat Zepeda, and because Zepeda’s one of Golden Boy Promotions’ leading prospects, he’d rather Zepeda got left out in the cold. If that’s true, De La Hoya would neither be the first nor last promoter to do so. It’s a common move.

Regardless, the reality is that if there’s one fight to be made at 135lbs it’s between Stevenson and Davis. Davis’ co-manager Josh Dubin recently told BoxingScene that they were “waiting and ready to negotiate”; Dubin represented me several times, and if he said that, he meant it. He doesn’t have time to waste. 

If fights with either Davis or Zepeda happen in the future I see the appeal behind them taking place in the US, instead of Saudi Arabia, but while I like the atmosphere surrounding a big fight in the US, I want to see both fights enough that – particularly given the climate of boxing in 2024 – it doesn’t really matter where they’re held. 

Another of the fights that’s been confirmed for the undercard in October is Fabio Wardley-Frazer Clarke II – and for them it maybe is a shame that they’re going to fight in Riyadh. Both are established in the British fight market, where the fans and media are outspoken – and when a British fighter builds their profile at home, they have a better chance of building their profile worldwide.

There are positives involved in fighting in Riyadh – particularly the money fighters often earn – but when fighters are still building their profiles there are times it makes more sense to instead fight at home. Fighters should be treated individually when attempting to make those judgement calls, but the demand after their first fight means that staging Wardley-Clarke II in the UK would have been better for both. Before Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury were tempted to Saudi Arabia they built their reputations in the UK; sometimes, for all of the excitement around these high-quality cards, they feel rushed and lacking in thought. Showcasing British prospects – Ben Whittaker’s fight with Liam Cameron is also on the undercard – in Riyadh isn’t the best move for them, overall. The time for them to fight in Riyadh can still come. Other British fighters will also miss out by not being involved on the undercard of Wardley-Clarke.

The Riyadh Season cards offer more pros than cons, but a big friendship circle is kept that means fighters outside of them can struggle – and an eye always has to be kept on building future generations. The wheel has to keep turning.

Beterbiev-Bivol, by the way, is a tremendous fight and one it’s very, very difficult to pick a winner from. They’re terrific fighters. Sometimes you get fights of this size because one of the fighters is popular, without truly being that good; neither of these are as popular as they should be, but they’re both excellent, excellent fighters.