Joe Cordina will have to wait for revenge over Anthony Cacace

Joe Cordina might have moved on from the junior lightweight division, but he would be happy to run it back with previous foe Anthony Cacace.

Cordina, from Cardiff, Wales, was stunned by Cacace in Saudi Arabia last May, losing for the first and only time in his career.

Neither have boxed since, although Cordina had been billed to face Shakur Stevenson last year in a fight that didn’t happen after Stevenson required surgery on a damaged hand.

The loss of the Stevenson fight soured Cordina, and so has sitting on a loss when he hoped to be back in the ring by now. Now trained by Barry Smith in Harlow, England, Cordina wants activity.

“It is quite frustrating because I believe he fought a 50 per cent Joe Cordina which was weight-drained,” Cordina said of Ireland’s Cacace.

“I’m not saying that’s the reason why he beat me, but the real reason is the two shots on a break absolutely took it completely out of me. So I think he was fighting a 50 per cent Joe Cordina. And I believe me on my day and him on his day, I would win nine times out of 10.”

While Cordina wants to get back out, as a two-time world titleholder and former Olympian, he knows his worth, although he is unlikely to get Cacace anytime soon.

The Irish News reported earlier this week that Cacace-Leigh Wood was headed to Nottingham, England, on May 10, with Cacace (having vacated his IBF strap) defending his IBO belt.

BoxingScene understands that Raymond Ford, the IBF’s No. 7, could be positioned in a fight with IBF No. 1 Eduardo Nunez for the vacant title. 

“If it’s a warm-up fight, and just take the cobwebs off, I don’t mind taking a pay cut,” said Cordina. “But when it’s a tough, tough fight, obviously it’s got to make sense for everybody. Including myself.”

“To be honest, anybody in the top 10, like I said, it’s financially got to make sense for me.”

Cordina, self-managed but advised by Spencer Brown, said he has heard horror stories of fighters underselling themselves and taking low money for hard fights. He doesn’t want to do the same thing.

“When I hear that and people say to me, ‘Oh, boxing is a business,’ OK, well, you’re telling me boxing is a business. But I’m trying to live it as a business. I’m trying to work it as a business. So when people say to me, ‘Oh, you’re being difficult or you’re asking for too much’ … no, I’ve never asked for way too much money. Never, in any of my fights. ‘Cause I’ve never negotiated them. I also know my worth. I’m a two-time world champion, British Commonwealth WBA international and intercontinental champion, and a former Olympian. So I know what I’m worth. But at the same time, I’m not going to be having a piss taken out of me. I’m going to try and negotiate the best I can. And I believe it will come because God has a plan for everyone. And I believe he’s got me in a good place at the minute, mentally. And, yeah, I think, it’ll all work itself out.”