Cordina-Rakhimov Might Steal the Show this Saturday

Published

2 years ago

April 18, 2023

Cordina-Rakhimov-Might-Steal-the-Show-this-Saturday

As the eyes of the boxing world shift to Las Vegas and the stirrings of the undercard for the Tank Davis-Ryan Garcia showdown this Saturday night, a less important fight that is no less interesting will be in full swing. In the Cardiff International Arena, Wales, super-featherweights Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (17-0-1) out of Los Angeles via Tajikstan, and hometown boy Joe Cordina (15-0) will meet ring centre for a minor alphabet strap and divisional bragging rights that would set the winner at the foot of the divisional throne occupied by Oscar Valdez. Both men are unbeaten, and as I’ve discussed elsewhere on TSS this month, both occupy that sweet spot in the divisional rankings that has consistently delivered quality fights in the first third of 2023. Cordina and Rakhimov both inhabit the top five at 130lbs and both have reasons to expect to have their arm raised this coming Saturday.

But before we get to the fight we should have a brief word about the how and the why, if nothing else to underline once more the pitiful shortcomings of the alphabet organisations who are supposed to be organising our sport.

It is Rakhimov who will defend the IBF 130lb belt this weekend, but it was Cordina who won it less than a year ago in June of 2022 against Japanese veteran Kenichi Ogawa in what was the performance of his life. The latest in a line of fighters to be anointed the “Welsh Wizard” and the direct heir to Joe Calzaghe, the most recent Welsh pound-for-pounder, Cordina delivered on the hype for his “world” title shot. Ogawa, who had been stopped just once a whole decade before, started quickly, schooled, weight on his backfoot, baiting to counter with his jab. He won that first round, but Cordina was getting a close look at his man, alternating between the centre of the ring and quick retreats, trying to dial in a one-two. In the second, Cordina seemed to have a special interest in distance, controlling when Ogawa would move in and move out, using very small moves. Ogawa responded with small moves of his own, forwards for the most part, repeatedly closing the distance on the moving Cordina with a little hop, once risking a huge uppercut. In double-time, Cordina had persuaded Ogawa that it was safe to come forwards.

Cordina stepped lively for the first minute, waited for Ogawa to go flatfooted and landed a perfect punch, a runaway moon of a shot behind a feinted left that caught the stilled Ogawa clean. He roiled on the canvas as Cordina celebrated. I have never seen a better knockout shot; it was a punch Joe Louis would have been proud of.

Such a punch: but it came at a price. Cordina broke his right hand clean, and the injury required surgery. The IBF immediately stripped him. Despite doing exactly what all fighters train for, executed as perfectly as any of the world’s pugs might dream, he was a beltholder for just four months and never lost his “title” in the ring.

“I’ve been informed that I’ve been stripped of the title,” Cordina announced. “I worked my whole life and sacrificed everything to become a world champion, and I ain’t even had the chance to defend it. It feels like I’ve been robbed. Breaks my heart, honestly.”

The scheduled fight he had pulled out of to undergo surgery was against Rakhimov. The IBF, like all the alphabets, get their cash by charging fighters to fight for their titles. They could make no money from Cordina as he recovered in his Cardiff home, so they took his title and threw Rakhimov in with Zelfa Barrett in order that they could service a new champion.

Barrett, already a sometime IBF customer, was otherwise an odd choice but not an indefensible one, a victory over a much smaller Kiko Martinez and a European belt at 130lbs the testimony to that. Either way, the Englishman found himself travelling out to Abu Dhabi to fight for Cordina’s title. Handled by the same Matchroom Boxing promotional team that handled Cordina it was clear what the promotional hope was here: that Barrett would take the belt back to Wales for an all-British showdown against the returning Cordina. Rakhimov had other plans.

Barrett made it hard though. Fleet-footed and armed with a sparkly jab, Rakhimov was forced to pursue, and he did so recklessly as early as the second round. He was met with success, throwing with variety and intention, and winning the round clean, but right at the bell Barrett held his ground and threw hard shots to the body and head giving Rakhimov an uncertain moment. In the third Barrett drew Rakhimov forwards onto one of those over-reached rushes and buckled him with a flashing counterpunch. Barrett was on him immediately but in controlled fashion, lashing his man to the body before once more giving ground. Discomforted by a low blow and seemingly eager to punish Barrett, Rakhimov walked onto a right uppercut for a no-count followed by a standing eight and his fight-plan lay in tatters.

Ringside, Cordina will have noted this. Rakhimov showed in these moments both poor judgement and poor temperament, windows for a fighter of Cordina’s talents.

Rakhimov steadied himself though and boxed the fifth halting at the half-distance, showing more head-movement and trying to prevent counters while landing his own stiffer punches. It was an important adjustment and for all that I could feel Rakhimov straining at the leash, he executed it well, and started to exert a drag on the moving Barrett. By the eighth, Barrett, still ahead on my card, had begun to fade and Rakhimov found him with some nasty little shots along the ropes, more organised than he was early in the fight, snatching less. Almost square over his front foot he favoured the southpaw right but began to make more and more room for the left. In the ninth, Rakhimov provided more of the same and Barrett was there to be hit by it, suddenly fighting in a war he couldn’t win – giving ground in stages now, Barrett was forced to the canvas by right jabs and hooks, a second knockdown moments later spelling the end. So exhausted was Barrett that television commentary incorrectly assumed he had a leg injury.

Rounds five to nine are Rakhimov country. It was during these rounds that he punctured Azinga Fuzile out in South Africa in an excellent fight from 2019; but that is not to say he cannot get it done early. Three of his last six were finished in the first half of the fight.

But there are weaknesses and a hint in 2021 that the distance might be one. His draw with Jojo Diaz, posted over 12 rounds, was a fight he was narrowly winning through nine only to lose the tenth, eleventh and twelfth in an alarming fade that cost him the fight, a fight I thought he narrowly lost.

So, what does all of this add up to? Frankly, a defined stylistic advantage for Cordina which can easily be mined for maximum return. Cordina blew up Ogawa with one punch, a trick he’s turned before with what is a dynamite right-hand, but I suspect he will not want to risk this punch early against Rakhimov; rather he will seek to draw an over-eager and frustrated Rakhimov onto any and all punches while using neat footwork to control the timing of those clashes, which he will minimise. Barrett did not have the steam to keep Rakhimov off him, but Cordina does. All being well for the Welshman, he can look to up the tempo in the later rounds, the rounds in which we saw Rakhimov struggle against Diaz.

This is all very easy to write and extremely difficult to do. Most of all Cordina will have to deal with Rakhimov’s mid-round surge which he has posted too often not to expect to see again this Saturday. Once he, as a pressure fighter and a puncher, has a proper understanding of how his opponent moves he can change a fight with aggression and volume and an underrated line in cuffing, shortened punches. The straight read of the fight then would see Cordina out-speed Rakhimov early before Rakhimov dials in through the middle rounds to even matters up before Cordina puts his foot down to dominate the championship rounds and take a decision, hometown or otherwise.

Those middle rounds though may be hotly contested and might be the best boxing you see this weekend, whatever the much more hyped Davis-Garcia fight delivers a few hours later.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Published

2 hours ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

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Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.

One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.

Take your pick.

The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.

Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.

Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.

If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.

He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.

During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.

Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.

Fundora

Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.

Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.

Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.

Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.

Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?

When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.

This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.

Commerce Casino

Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.

Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.

It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.

Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?

That’s a question for another day.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).

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TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2025

TSS Press

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The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.

Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.

Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11^th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)

Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.

The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).

Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”

A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.

Other winners:

Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon

Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney

Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire

Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix

The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.

The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.

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Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.

He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.

Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.

“After he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,” recollects Sanginov. “There was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.

“By the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, ‘Give thanks to God because he gave you a second life.’ It is like I was born a second time.”

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,” he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: “Good man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.”)

Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. “Muhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,” he says.

During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. “Ideally,” he says, “I would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.”

He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off – “I had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,” he says – and he will be resuming his career at 154. “Although I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,” says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.

He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginov’s opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.

On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.

Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.

If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubon’s world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.

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