Joe Cordina feels he is being overlooked for his fight against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson for their October 12th showdown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Cordina’s history of proving doubters wrong
Former IBF featherweight champion Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) notes that people thought he would lose to Shavkat Rakhimov and Kenichi Ogawa. He proved people wrong by defeating those two fighters.
Cordina, 32, doesn’t mind people thinking he’ll lose to Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) because he fights better when his back is against the wall with a point to prove.
He says they are already talking about Shakur, 27, who fights William Zepeda in February and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in the summer of next year. Cordina says he could be the one to face Tank Davis next summer instead of Shakur.
However, given promoter Eddie Hearn’s hopes of turning Shakur into a superstar, he will not allow Cordina to move on and take the Tank Davis fight without setting up a rematch.
Blooms under pressure
“There was no difference for a (Shavkat) Rakhimov or an Ogawa fight. Ogawa is going to knock me out. Rakhimov is going to stop me. So, it’s not a problem,” Joe Cordina said Boxing News about people who believe he has no chance of beating Shakur Stevenson on October 12th.
There is a difference between Cordina fighting Shakur and when he fought Ogawa and Rakhimov. He is considered a major talent and perhaps the #2 fighter in the 135-lb division behind Tank Davis. Against Ogawa and Rakhimov, fans still gave Cordina a chance because those guys weren’t noticed as super talents.
“I perform better when I’m backed up against the wall and I have a point to prove when my opponent is high level, which Shakur is at the highest level,” says Cordina. “Now, it’s going to make me perform out of my skin, and I always have.”
Cordina will need a good game plan for him to defeat Shakur, and he will also need the New Jersey native to come with him as he did last July against his last opponent, Artem Harutyunyan. Shakur was hit hard by Harutyunyan because he was not afraid of his power. Against Cordina, Shakur may revert to his safety-first style of fighting to avoid being clipped because he hits much harder than Harutyunyan.
“Anytime the opponent is that level and potentially above me, I always perform,” Cordina said.
Shakur’s Stevenson on X: “Respect the mentality but it’s totally different Joe, I don’t think you’ve ever seen this level before 😤.”
“Definitely, they are watching me. 100%, but I don’t pay attention to it,” Cordina said of Shakur. “There is nothing for me to lose. It’s all about winning for me. I just have to go out there and leave nothing to chance and leave it all in the ring.”
People wouldn’t have overlooked him if he hadn’t looked so bad in his eighth round knockout loss to Anthony Cacace last May. Cordina was overmatched and never competitive in that fight. Shakur would probably beat Cacace without any trouble, showing the huge talent gap between the two.
“Not necessarily. If it’s there, it’s there,” Cordina said when asked if he would seek a knockout against Shakur. “Shakur does what he does. He misses them and makes them pay, but I can do that too. People go on about Shakur being boring. I don’t see it. That’s the art of boxing.”
Shakur’s future plans Brand Cordina’s motivation
Cordina needs to focus on trying to knock Shakur out because he’s not going to win a decision against him, especially since he’s the A-side lifting promoter Eddie Hearn, with two big fights ahead of him against William Zepeda and Gervonta Davis. Given those circumstances, Cordina has very little chance of winning a decision.
“I don’t mind being boring either. Then it comes down to patience. I have all the patience in the world. If that means I win a fight and all I have to do is be patient, then happy days,” Cordina said.
