Joe Cordina came close to dropping a decision in return bout!
WBA #13 and IBF #15 ranked junior lightweight Joe Cordina is one of more promising prospects coming out of the United Kingdom. After a stellar amateur career capped off by a 2016 Olympic showing, the four-year professional from Cardiff, Wales is looking to stay sharp against unranked challenger Faroukh Kourbanov of Belgium.
On paper, Kourbanov is hardly a threat. He has only fought outside of Belgium three times, two of which were loses to other unranked opponents. This fight is clearly one for the Welch prospect to shake off the rust. He hadn’t fought since November of 2019 and needed a careful match-up as he looks to resume his climb up the junior lightweight rankings.
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GETTING BACK INTO THE GROOVE
To be quite honest, there wasn’t much to see in this fight. As mentioned above, Cordina is still a prospect looking to rise up the rankings. With more than a year out of the ring, fans can’t expect him to jump into a bout with a high caliber opponent. Nevertheless, this did not mean the Welch fighter didn’t show why he could be a wildcard in the junior lightweight division.
The I.Q, and raw overall skill difference between the two fighters was major. Cordina showed a little bit of everything in this fight. The ability to mix up his combinations and control the distance were on full display early. He also showed great ring generalship. He even proved he could fight on the inside instead of staying on the outside. Many fans will say “well he didn’t knock the guy out!” The truth of the matter is Kourbanov has never been stopped! Furthermore, unless you have watched his fights closely, there is no evidence he ever tasted canvas as a professional.
TAKING IT A LITTLE TOO EASY
A bigger criticism of Cordina would be his complacency in the ring. He admired his work a little too much in the middle rounds and probably felt good about himself while getting back into his groove. The period of “relaxation” allowed Kourbanov to get in close and hit him with shots he should have evaded. Many times towards the end of the fight, Cordina would be hit with some big shots. With only three knockouts in seventeen wins, if Kourbanov had any kind of power, the Welch prospect could have been dropped…maybe a couple of times!
Sure he wanted a good fight, evidenced by his taunting of the Belgian during the the bout. However, who is to say that he would not have these “complacency periods” against fighters who are much more skilled than Kourbanov? Furthermore, it was funny to see the Belgian who was supposed to get demolished, bouncing on his toes with extreme confidence in the final round!
Kourbanov is just slightly below the level of competition Cordina is used to beating in his other eleven pro bouts. Therefore, if he were to face names like Chris Colbert, Tevin Farmer, Joseph Diaz Jr or any other top-tier contender in the division, a period of complacency could see him losing that fight…big! Hell, he actually almost lost this fight because of it!
THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE!
In the end, two of the three judges admired Kourbanov’s work a little more than some would expect. The scorecards of 98-93 and 96-95 went to Cordina while the third judge felt the fight was a draw! While the bout was probably not a draw, that scorecard is the direct result of Cordina trying to take things a little too easy.
Understandably he needed to shake the rust off. However, if he gets close to losing fights against opponents that are a level below him in skill due to inactivity, hopefully for Cordina, Eddie Hearn keeps him active!
By: EJ Williams
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