Joe Cordina has a real chance to upset WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson if he can land a powerful right hand in their co-main event on October 12 in Riyadh.
Shakur’s timidity hints at a glass jaw
Many fans see the threat over former IBF super featherweight champion Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) to a fighter like Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs), who hides glass in his chin.
Shakur wouldn’t be afraid to fight the way he does if he didn’t have bad experiences getting hurt during his amateur career and in sparring sessions. When someone as timid as Shakur fights, it’s a red flag that they don’t have a good chin and have adjusted their fighting style to protect it.
Shakur has a lot of rabbit in him for a reason. He’s clearly been hurt by big shots before, and he’ll do everything in his power to prevent that from happening again. Liam Paro was rumored to have hurt Shakur in sparring, which would make sense because the Aussie can punch.
The worrying thing about Cordina, 32, is that he hasn’t knocked anyone out in two years since his one-punch second-round KO of Kenichi Ogawa in June 2022. Has Cordina lost his strength or the confidence needed for him to charge on his right hand like he did against Ogawa?
If he lands that same shot on Shakur, he 100% knocks him out cold because he can’t take that kind of power. Nobody can.
Stevenson’s potential downfall against Zepeda
Assuming Stevenson wins this fight against Cordina, he is expected to face #1 WBC ranked contender William Zepeda in the first quarter of 2025. This is where it will get really interesting, because Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) can punch, and he throws a lot of shots, many of them to the body.
Shakur hasn’t fought a body punch on the level of Zepeda in his seven-year professional career, and all the head movement he does will be useless to him against this type of fighter. Shakur’s time may be over as a WBC champion in that fight, and he will be exposed.
If Cordina doesn’t get Shakur, Zepeda could be the beginning of the end for Shakur, with him being stopped. I just wonder if Eddie Hearn or whoever Shakur has under a promotional contract will have an early exit clause to allow him to let him go.
The last thing Hearn needs is another albatross who is useless to him, someone he needs to protect with soft matches to keep from getting beaten again.
⚠️ Don’t sleep on Joe Cordina 😤#BeterbievBivol | October 12 | #Riyadh Season pic.twitter.com/OSS74ca8rN
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 22, 2024
