Joe Cordina wanted rematch with Anthony Cacace free of ‘ref’s incompetence’

Joe Cordina was willing to remain at super featherweight to again fight Anthony Cacace.

The Welshman sacrificed his IBF title when he was unexpectedly stopped in eight rounds on the undercard of the undisputed heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in May.

Perhaps inevitably the occasion of his first defeat remains a source of significant frustration, and it largely does so because of the reason he continues to believe that he lost.

Cordina, 32, was knocked down in the third round after being punched on the break by Cacace, and under the supervision of the referee Bob Williams thereafter struggled throughout the course of an increasingly one-sided fight. 

His trainer Tony Sims has since spoken of his struggles to make the 130lbs weight limit, but Cordina – having insisted Cacace had previously offered him a rematch before agreeing to fight Josh Warrington on September 21 – was prepared to struggle once again if it meant the opportunity to avenge the injustice he believes was done.

He is instead preparing to return at lightweight before the conclusion of 2024, but when discussing his first defeat he told BoxingScene: “Cacace said he’d give me a rematch. Then the next thing I know [he’s fighting Warrington] – no one had even mentioned anything to me. That’s the only fight that I would have stayed at 130lbs for – to try and make that fight.

“It was after. He come in my changing room, and at the time my head was all over the place, so I said, ‘It’ll probably have to be at 135lbs, because I don’t know if can make the weight anymore’. He said, ‘But there’s no belt’. I said, ‘To be honest, I don’t give a fuck about the belt – I just want to wrong a right’. Then, obviously, that fight was done. So it is what it is – I don’t cry over spilt milk. They’re fighting – that’s another six months gone. The longer I wait for something like that, the more weight I’m gonna be able to fill out and put on, so it’s going to be tougher for me to make that weight.

“The standout thing in the fight was the two shots on the break – that shook me to my boots, frankly, and then the momentum switched. But it is what it is. I’m not going to cry over spilt milk – that’s why I haven’t really done interviews or come out and said this, that and the other. But that was the deciding factor of why it ended up the way it did.

“The changing rooms beforehand, in big fights the referee comes in and says, ‘I’m the man in charge of the ring; obey my instructions; obey my commands; if I say, break, break; if I say, step back, step back. If you don’t follow instructions you’ll be penalised; points; potentially disqualification’.

“The ref said, ‘Break; clear’. A split-second after, he hit me with two clean shots. If that was me, and I hit him, I’d have been expecting points off. It was incompetence from the referee. He didn’t do anything. He didn’t tell him to go back to a neutral corner. He was right behind the referee after, and I just think it was a bit unfair. That’s just incompetence and bad refereeing. It was just bad refereeing. I think because of the occasion of the night – the whole night; I’m not saying my fight, because there was bigger fights on there than mine and Cacace’s – obviously he’s been involved in big fights. But the whole occasion – I didn’t think he wanted to take points off. It was really bad, and that’s what should have happened – and give me my five minutes.”

Cordina expects to be back in Sims’ Essex-based gym full-time by when Cacace makes the first defence of his former title. He also hopes to then work towards a return at lightweight – in 2024 among the world’s finest weight divisions – before the year’s end.

“No one’s really contacted me, from [promoters] Matchroom,” he said. “I’ve been training – doing little bits, and whatever. But I’m going to get back in the gym [properly] and start training in September. I want to be out in late November; December, and I’m hoping on that. When I get back from [my family holiday in] Malta, I’ll start pushing for what I basically want. I’m back in two weeks, so I’ll start the ball rolling with negotiations or trying to make a fight or whatever.

“I just don’t want to be involved in them fights that are high-risk, low reward. I don’t want them fights. There’s a lot of fighters out there – people don’t really like saying this – there’s fighters out there that are unbelievable but they haven’t got the recognition. They haven’t got the backing behind them, so you’re fighting them, it’s a potential slip up, and you’re not getting nothing from it. Nothing at all. You’re not getting paid well; you’re not getting no credit from it, so where does that put you? I’d back myself against anyone in the world. When you’re fighting someone like that, for no clout – no money – then it’s not worth your while.

“You’ve got George Kambosos who’s fought [twice Devin Haney, then Vasiliy Lomachenko] for world titles and lost every single one of them. What difference is it from me? I know he can fight in Australia. But I can fight in Cardiff; in the UK. Or we can be on the undercard of someone. So why can’t that happen with me? Eddie [Hearn is] meant to be the biggest promoter in the world, so if anyone can sort it, he can sort it. 

“I’m just gonna enjoy my summer, and then I’m gonna pick back up. I’ve got ambition. I still wanna win world titles. I just need another fight to put me back in the firing line for another world title. Anyone that can put me in for a world title [I’m willing to fight].”