BOTH Joe Cordina and Skye Nicolson have been added to the Catterall-Eubank bill, which takes place in less than four weeks’ time. Each of these respective former world champions bid to bounce back from their first career defeats.
Cordina, 17-1 (9 KOs), lost his IBF super-featherweight crown when halted by Anthony Cacace last May. The Welshman has not fought since, although his inactivity is not due to a lack of effort.
The Cardiff-born sensation announced his intentions to fight at lightweight shortly after defeat to Cacace. He even signed for a world title challenge on his debut at the weight when he agreed to take on WBC titleholder Shakur Stevenson in Saudi Arabia late last year.
However, Stevenson would go on to pull out of that clash and then swerve Cordina as an option when requiring a late-notice replacement in February, instead opting to face Doncaster’s Josh Padley.
As a result, Cordina has been sidelined and has been left scrambling for a long-awaited 135lb debut. Still, the 33-year-old will finally get his wish at the AO Arena in Manchester, where he takes on Mexico’s Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz, 17-1 (13 KOs), in a 10-round affair with the vacant WBO Global strap on the line.
Meanwhile, Skye Nicolson, 12-1 (1 KO), was on the wrong side of what could prove to be one of the upsets of the year when she lost her WBC featherweight world title to Tiara Brown back in March.
Like Cordina, Nicolson is also now targeting two-division world champion status, but the Aussie is instead planning on dropping down to super-bantamweight rather than moving up.
With relatively short notice for this contest on Saturday, July 5, it is unclear whether Nicolson will return to action at 122lbs and 126lbs here, with an opponent also yet to be revealed for the 2018 Commonwealth champion’s comeback.
Elsewhere on the undercard sits a grudge match between domestic super-featherweight rivals Aqib Fiaz, 13-1 (2 KOs), and Michael Gomez Jr., 21-2 (6 KOs), as well as the professional debut of heavyweight hopeful Leo Atang and a second outing for well-supported Mancunian Pat Brown, 1-0 (1 KO).
