Joe Cordina opens up on retirement dilemma and plan to take his world title back

The feeling of injustice has faded for Joe Cordina but the image of him reclaiming his world title is one that has greeted him every morning over the last six months.

Back home in Cardiff last June, the 31-year-old achieved a life-long dream as he clinched the IBF super-featherweight title, flattening Kenichi Ogawa with the knockout of his life in the second round.

That elation was soon replaced by devastation. Scheduled to defend his title in Abu Dhabi against Shavkat Rakhimov last November, Cordina was forced to withdraw from that bout due to a hand injury.

Having been ordered to defend his title by the IBF, Cordina was given a medical extension by the sanctioning body until January this year – a date he was unable to make having undergone surgery. In response, the IBF stripped him of the belt. With Cordina out of the picture, Rakhimov beat Zelfa Barrett to claim the vacant title.

Having his world championship taken from him, coupled with the weight of that latest injury blow, left the decorated amateur questioning his future in the sport as he considered walking away from it all. But having kept his eye on the prize, supported by his wife Lauren, his family and trainer Tony Sims, he can take back what he says is rightfully his when he and Rakhimov meet in the Welsh capital on Saturday.

‘A month or two after losing the belt, I was able to make peace with it and get on with what was next,’ Cordina told Metro.co.uk. ‘And that was whether I was going to continue on with my career, because the injury was so bad, or to call it a day having achieved what I set out to achieve.

‘But I set new goals. I was happy with what I had done but in another sense, I wasn’t, I had set new targets and wanted to achieve more. I knew I had a lot left in the tank, I haven’t been out of second gear yet.’

Cordina, who is an ambassador for FLY sportswear, continued: ‘I have got good people around me. I never really spoke to them about calling it a day but they were always around me, supporting me. It was always positive thinking. I was never worried about being on my own.’

Losing his world title without losing a fight in his professional career has been telling motivation for Cordina, who has never let the image of the title – and what it means for his family – be too far away from him.

‘On my phone, the front cover, the picture is the IBF title. It is so I wake up to it every morning thinking, “that’s mine.”

‘Then when I open my phone, I have got my family, my kids. That is why I do this. There are two sides of it. I visualise me winning the title and that is what I am fighting for every day when I open my phone and I see my kids, the reason why I’m doing it. It is the extra push.’

Tajikistan-born Rakhimov stopped Barrett in round nine to pick up the vacant title on the night that was meant to be Cordina’s first title defence last November.

The events of the last six months have left him at times disillusioned with the sport. ‘It has opened my eyes, there are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes that not many people can see and know about,’ he said.

‘I think I was in a bit of a blind spot with my situation, I didn’t know what was going on. It has changed my perception of boxing, the politics side of things especially.

‘But when I’m hitting the bag and it gets tough, I am thinking about Rakhimov. If I am out on a run and it gets tough, I am thinking about Rakhimov.

‘He is tough but there are a lot of things that can be exposed. There is not a fighter out there who is perfect. He has got plenty of flaws as I have too. I have always said you need that something special to beat me and I just don’t think he has got it.’

Having started boxing at 15, Cordina has dedicated over half his life to the sport. While confident his biggest nights are still to come, he has an exit plan in mind after years of sacrifice that have seen him miss important moments in the lives of his young family.

‘It is like winner stays on boxing. If you lose you go back a few spaces. You just have to look forward,’ he said. ‘You have got to have goals, visions of doing certain things but I can’t look at them yet. There are lots of things for me. But I don’t want be around this sport forever.

‘I want to win my title back, I want to unify the division, I want to make some money and I want to bow out and spend time with my family because I haven’t been able to do that for the last 15 years. I have three young kids, I have missed birthdays, I have almost missed two of their births.

‘Boxing has taken a lot of special times I should have been spending with my family. But at the same time, the sacrifices have given my kids the life they have got and what I can keep giving them in the future. I have missed a lot but I will make up for that.’

Joe Cordina will be wearing FLY’s new Storm Boot on fight night which can be purchased here.

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