Cordina-Rakhimov Might Steal the Show this Saturday

Published

1 year 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.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Matt McGrain

Up Next

Avila Perspective, Chap. 234: Once-in-a-Generation Mega Fight: Tank Davis vs King Ry Garcia

Don't Miss

R.I.P. Igor Vysotsky, a Heavyweight Boxer of Great Renown

Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-289-East-L.A.-A-Fight-Town-Claressa-Shields-and-More

Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Arne's-Almanac-Jake-Paul-and-Women's-Boxing-a-Curmudgeon's-Take

Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Former-World-Bamtamweight-Champion-Richie-Sandoval-Passes-Away-at-age-63

Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!