Cordina Outfights Rakhimov in Fight of the Year Contender

Tonight, in a sold-out Cardiff International Arena, Wales, a partisan crowd roared hometown boy Joe Cordina (now 16-0) to a well-deserved split decision against the brutal Tajikistani southpaw Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (drops to 17-1-1).

In previewing the fight, I predicted three distinct phases: an early third that would see Cordina’s quality bring him a fast start on the cards, and I was correct in this; a middle third where Rakhimov’s brutal tactics would bring him right back into the fight and I was correct, too, in this; and a third and final phase where Rakhimov would fade and Cordina would take over to close the show – in this last instance I was wrong. Rakhimov fought to the last moment and finished the fight as he started it, throwing punches.

He was impressive, too, in his ring entrance, walking calmly through a hostile crowd that reigned abuse upon him. It contrasted with an overblown ringwalk on the part of Cordina who seemed to be consuming more nervous energy that necessary. Meeting ring centre though, these two banished the peripheral and set to war, Cordina pumping the jab and circling, making angles, while Rakhimov sought right hands to the body. They finished the round head-to-head, swapping uppercuts and bursts of punches and although they roamed across the entirety of the ring, tactically, they remained where they finished that first round, locked together in a battle of wills.

The detail of that battle was more complex though. Cordina was measuring his superior skill and swiftness against Rakhimov’s toughness. The question that was asked was whether Cordina’s superior work would take a toll upon Rakhimov before Rakhimov’s more violent, less precise pressure would tell upon Cordina. The answer was that both men were equal to each other’s best work, a fact that could only result in a spectacle.

Both men were warned for heads in the second, both looked for very hard punches, which remained compact. Cordina cracked Rakhimov with a hard jab ring centre and the Tajikistani dipped to slip the follow-up but Cordina had a third punch for him, a hook that he drove straight through Rakhimov’s jaw and dropped him straight back down into his crouch like a retreating-jack-in-the-box. Cordina’s knockdown punctuated his fast start, and straight rights punctuated the third as he proved the health of his key punch, in question due to an October 2022 operation on that hand.

Cordina swept the first three rounds on my card but looked uncomfortable with the close battle in the fourth, using his superior mobility to move out of close range in a strategy that looked more sensible but actually saw him second-best over the three minutes. In the fifth, he was made to look uncomfortable again, trying to feint his way out of a corner as Rakhimov tried to make his pressure count; a southpaw hook brought the first moment of crisis for Cordina but he remained cool.  The fifth through eighth, though, is Rakhimov Country and in what was becoming a dirty fight – both men were warned for heads, Cordina was warned repeatedly for pushing – he brought his best work, calmer than he had been in the opening rounds, more compact. A straight right though, caused a nasty cut to Rakhimov’s left eye, Cordina’s money punch putting him back in control of the fight at a crucial moment.

Hurt repeatedly in the seventh, it seemed that the fight might be about to turn completely against Rakhimov but he battled back in the ninth with a savagery and pride that threatened to derail Cordina’s momentum. Swollen about both eyes, his left optic a bloody mess, Rakhimov seemed exhausted at the end of the ninth and I felt I had seen the final push from a fighter who would now crumble, or at least slow. Instead, he tore out for the bell for the tenth and harried Cordina throughout what may have been his best round. Cordina kept his guard up, moved well, but was driven along the ropes as the round came to an end, a straight 1-2-3 driving him back and away from his tormentor.

Like any fight of the year candidate, this had one final swing of momentum as Cordina came out for the eleventh counterpunching and seeking uppercuts, a theme he continued in the twelfth, using a desperate Rakhimov’s momentum and aggression against him in a cool strategic sidestep.

This was what really impressed me about Cordina, the coolness of thought, the quickness of mind, even under terrible pressure. In receipt of a high-level gut-check and a final confirmation of his fighting tank he is now the best or second-best fighter at 130lbs, only Oscar Valdez arguably to be ranked above him.

“The first round, he was sinking straight hands to the body and I thought “he can punch.” He caught me with a good shot in the middle rounds, too,” Cordina said post-fight. “But I’m fit. There was no way he was beating me tonight, no chance.”

Perhaps a matter of will over skill in the end, but Cordina’s consistency married his clinical excellence to hurt. Rakhimov has a chin, and such was his performance that he will remain a viable contender for any beltholder or prospect with the courage to step into the ring with him. So good was Rakhimov tonight that even in defeat he may just have punched his way into the “who needs him?” club.

For Cordina, the 130lbs division is his oyster. He can do anything he likes, and all the talk in the ring after the fight was of unifications with other beltholders – in reality, I suspect promoter Eddie Hearn will steer Cordina towards a softer touch in Zelfa Barrett (now 29-2), who was very impressive in out-pointing the limited but game Jason Sanchez (now 16-4) on the undercard.

The official scorecards saw it 115-112 and 114-113 Cordina and the rather outlandish 116-111 from Alex Levin. I saw it 116-111 for Cordina but really, I was just glad I saw it. I may have predicted that Rakhimov-Cordina would outshine Davis-Garcia this Saturday night but actually a potential Fight of the Year unfolded and that was a real treat.  Let us hope that Davis and Garcia nevertheless outdo them in just a few hours on the other side of the Atlantic.

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