O’Shaquie Foster Believes Joe Cordina Will Avoid Him!
WBC junior lightweight champ O’Shaquie “Shock” Foster (20-2, 11KO) noticed the tension between IBF champion Joe Cordina (16-0, 9KO) and his promoter Eddie Hearn via social media. He didn’t show any signs of sympathy when chiming in and claimed the Welsh champion wanted “No Smoke!”
The response stems from the two expressing the want for a unification sometime in 2023. After handing two-division champ Rey Vargas the first loss of his career in a bid for the vacant WBC junior lightweight title in February, Foster mentioned his next move was to take steps towards unifying the division.
RELATED: Foster Wants Unification: “I’m Ready To Go Take The Other Belts!”
Two months later, Cordina regained the IBF title when he dropped, and gained a split-decision over then-undefeated champ Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov. Having never lost the title in an actual bout, Cordina was extra pumped to capture the other belts at junior lightweight. His call-out of the WBC champ was swift, coming just a few days after becoming champion again. Therefore, he did not take Foster’s attempt to expose him lightly!
UNIFICATION IS A MUST
The junior lightweight division contains four champions who are all on the same level. Each have a legitimate change to become the next undisputed champion. In most cases, a division will have belt-holders who are on completely different levels. This typically leads to mismatches in unification bouts, but not in this case.
The two other champions are Hector Luis Garcia (WBA) and Emmanuel Navarrete (WBO). Although, he is coming off a knockout loss to arguably four-division champion, Gervonta Davis at lightweight, Garcia brings a good level of boxing ability and is a smart, counter-puncher. Navarrete hasn’t looked back since beating up Isaac Dogboe for the super bantamweight title in 2018. Now a two-division champ, he is on his way to a big Mexican showdown with Oscar Valdez, another two-division champion in August. If he wins, this will surely make him the “fighter to beat” in the division.
Cordina vs Foster would be an excellent, mid-level match-up to kickoff the unification process in the division. Hearn has already stated he would like to make this fight. Let’s see if he can deliver!
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