Undefeated Joe Cordina fights classic fight to reclaim title

Welsh boxer Joe Cordina regained the IBF super featherweight title with a thrilling split decision victory over Shavkat Rakhimov at the Cardiff International Arena.

Cordina, 31, stripped of the belt due to injury last year, became the first Welsh boxer to become a double world champion but had to dig deep in a classic encounter in front of his home fans. One of the judges' scorecards had Rakhimov as the 116-111 winner, while two others gave the verdict to Cordina with scores of 115-112 and 114-113 in his favor.

Now undefeated in 16 professional fights, Cordina sent Rakhimov to the canvas in the second round and after being seriously injured himself in the fifth, produced a driving finish in the final round to edge out a classic. Tajikistan's Rakhimov, 28, who had won 17 and drawn in his previous 18 bouts, was relentless despite fighting with his right eye closed as early as the sixth round.

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The champion threw a greater amount of punches in his first title defense since winning the belt by stopping Manchester's Zelfa Barrett last November, but Cordina produced more accurate and powerful punches. quality. Cordina displayed superb footwork in the first round as the champion forced the issue, but the Welshman let loose in the second, sending the champion to the canvas with a shaky left hook.

Rakhimov beat the count and despite looking shaky on his legs, he recovered from back-to-back high right and left hook combinations to shake off the challenger with a solid right. Both boxers maintained a breakneck pace. Cordina caught Rakhimov with a booming left hook in the fourth round, but got himself in trouble in the fifth after being knocked out by a booming right.

Rakhimov, fully recovered from his knockdown, continued to be the aggressor in the sixth, but was hampered by a badly swollen right eye and was visibly injured again by Cordina's combinations. The champion's knees were bent again in the 10th but he showed tremendous determination to keep Cordina on the back foot, but the British fighter landed more punishing blows in the final round to win it.

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Cordina, now undefeated in 16 professional fights, first won the title in Cardiff in June last year by knocking out Japan's Kenichi Ogawa at Motorpoint Arena in the second round. He was scheduled to defend his title against IBF mandatory challenger Rakhimov in November, but was forced to withdraw due to a hand injury and was subsequently stripped of his belt.