Joe Cordina will be moving up to lightweight after losing his IBF super featherweight title to challenger Anthony Cacace by an upset eighth-round knockout last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(Courtesy: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn revealed today that Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) is going up to 135 because it is difficult for him to make 130.
Cacace’s Relentless Attack Overwhelms Cordina
The 32-year-old Cordina took a shellacking from Ireland’s Cacace (22-1, 8 KOs), who isn’t known for his power but was throwing nonstop punches, using angles, and not letting up once he had him hurt in the third.
Hearn points out that the 35-year-old southpaw Cacace hurt Cordina when he hit him on the break in round three never recovered, and continued to hurt him with shots.
It looked like Cordina was doomed anyway because he couldn’t handle the onslaught of Cacace more than anything, as he was not letting up on the punches he was throwing. The angles that Cacace was throwing his shots from also gave Cordina problems.
Previous Fight Raises Concerns About Cordina’s Durability
What Hearn didn’t mention was that Cordina took a lot of punishment in his previous fight against Edward Vazquez last November, winning a questionable 12-round majority decision.
Many boxing fans thought Vazquez deserved the victory, as he outfought Cordina in almost every round of the fight. Cordina’s punishment against Vazquez may have affected his punch resistance in his fight against Cacace, making him susceptible to his shots.
No Rematch as Cacace Faces Mandatory Challenger
“No rematch because the winner has to fight the mandatory, which is [Eduardo] ‘Sugar’ Nunez, our guy. That’s a great fight,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing when asked if there’s a rematch clause for last Saturday’s fight between IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina and Anthony Cacace.
“For Joe [Cordina], the difficulty staying at 130 was how long can you stay there. Now that he’s suffered that defeat, he’ll definitely be moving to 135, and congratulations to Cacace. It was a very impressive, powerful performance from him.”
It could be worse for Cordina moving up to lightweight because he’s having issues taking the punches from fighters at super featherweight, it’s going to be far worse for him competing at 135, where they hit harder and have more talent.
“You hate saying it after but he hit Cordina after the break [in round three], and Cordina never really recovered, but Cacace continuously hurt him. Although that didn’t help, Cacace still put in a great performance and really picked up from that momentum and really beat Joe up in there,” said Hearn.
“I think Joe will feel time it’s time to move to 135 now,” said Hearn.
Cordina’s Uncertain Future at Lightweight
Hopefully, Hearn isn’t under the illusion that the reason Cordina lost to Cacace was because he hit him on the break in round three. That’s not why he lost. Cordina was having problems before that, and it got worse as the rounds wore on.
I have a feeling that Cordina won’t do well at lightweight and will soon be one of the regular fringe contenders in the division. He’ll be just another Maxi Hughes type, who will struggle when facing good lightweights.
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