JOE CORDINA has had a year to forget and is none the wiser over what lies ahead for him.
The Welshman lost his IBF super-featherweight title to Anthony Cacace in May but business took a turn for the better in August when it was announced he would be fighting pound-for-pound talent Shakur Stevenson. Their fight was set for the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undercard on October 12 in Riyadh. However, Cordina found out via social media that the fight was off when Stevenson underwent immediate surgery for a hand injury.
“I didn’t have a phone call,” Cordina said, looking back on the moment he found out.
“It was about 11 o’clock at night, I was ready to turn my phone off. I refreshed Instagram and I seen a statement. I thought right is this someone taking the piss because I haven’t had a phone call. Still never had a phone call the next day.”
Cordina contacted his manager, Spencer Brown, who confirmed the bad news for his client.
“I was gutted because I’ve always wanted that fight. I’ve always wanted to be involved in a big fight and I believe that was going to be a great fight and probably fight of the night.”
Now fighting at lightweight, the 32-year-old still hopes to secure a fight against one of the big names or champions at 135 lbs. However, Cordina says he has yet to hear from his promoter, Eddie Hearn, about what’s next.
“The only time I spoke to Eddie is when he rang me to make the fight with Shakur.”
Cordina was in Birmingham last night to watch his new gym-mate Shabaz Masoud clinch an impressive win over Liam Davies. Masoud, also promoted by Matchroom, was on Queensberry territory for the night. Hearn was not in attendance; instead, it was Matchroom CEO Frank Smith.
“I said to Frank Smith what’s happening with the fights,” Cordina said.
“He went well you don’t speak to me. I said well you’re my promoter, you and Eddie are my promoters. I said what’s happening?” Cordina added he hoped to catch Smith before he left the venue, but in the meantime, he continues to wait on a call so he can travel back to Ben Davison’s gym for the next camp.
