Joe Cordina

Joseph Cordina (born Joseph Samuel, 1 December 1991) is a Welsh professional boxer. He has held the Commonwealth lightweight title since 2018 and the British lightweight title since April 2019. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and gold at the 2015 European Championships, both in the lightweight division. He also represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Joe Cordina
Statistics
Real nameJoseph Samuel [1]
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Reach69 in (175 cm)
NationalityWelsh
Born (1991-12-01) 1 December 1991
Cardiff, Wales
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights11
Wins11
Wins by KO7
Losses0
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Great Britain
European Amateur Championships
2015 Samokov Lightweight
Representing  Wales
Commonwealth Games
2014 Glasgow Lightweight

Personal life

Cordina was born on 1 December 1991 in Cardiff, Wales. He is of Maltese heritage.[2] In 2015, he had a daughter with his partner Lauren Beere.[3]

Amateur career

At the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, he lost in the first round of the lightweight event to Eugen Burhard of Germany by a score of 7–13.[2] In 2012 Cordina won a bronze medal at the European Under-22 Boxing Championships held in Russia. He defeated German boxer Artur Bril in his quarterfinal bout before losing 13–12 to Russian Maksim Shmiglev in the semi-finals.[4] He was eliminated from the 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships after losing his first bout in the lightweight event to Lázaro Álvarez of Cuba.[2] At the 2012 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament he was eliminated after his bout against David Joyce of Ireland was stopped in the third round.[2][5]

He represented Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland. Competing in the men's lightweight division he defeated Pat McCormack of England in the first round,[6] the Canada's David Gauthier in the round of 16.[7] In the quarterfinals he defeated Chad Milnes of New Zealand, guaranteeing himself at least a bronze medal.[8] He lost his semi-final to Scotland's Charlie Flynn by a split judge's decision and was eliminated from the tournament, to finish with a bronze medal.[9]

Cordina won the lightweight gold medal at the 2015 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria, beating Otan Eranosyan of Georgia in the final. He was the only British boxer to win a gold medal at the event.[3] At the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships held in Doha, Qatar, he reached the quarterfinals of the lightweight division by beating Kwon Chol-guk of North Korea in the round of 16,[10] but was then eliminated after losing to Robson Conceição of Brazil.[11][12]

He boxed at the 2016 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament in Samsun, Turkey. He secured qualification for the lightweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by beating David Joyce, who had eliminated him from the 2012 Olympic qualification tournament, in the semi-finals.[5][13][14]

Professional career

Cordina made his professional debut as a super-featherweight on 22 April 2017 at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, scoring a fourth-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over José Aguilar in a scheduled four round contest.[15]

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
11 fights 11 wins 0 losses
By knockout 7 0
By decision 4 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
11 Win 11–0 Enrique Tinoco UD 10 30 Nov 2019 Casino de Monte Carlo Salle Medecin, Monte Carlo, Monaco Won vacant WBA Continental super-featherweight title
10 Win 10–0 Gavin Gwynne UD 12 31 Aug 2019 The O2 Arena, London, England Retained British and Commonwealth lightweight titles
9 Win 9–0 Andy Townend TKO 6 (12), 2:51 20 Apr 2019 The O2 Arena, London, England Retained Commonwealth lightweight title;
Won vacant British lightweight title
8 Win 8–0 Sean Dodd UD 12 4 Aug 2018 Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff, Wales Retained WBA International lightweight title;
Won vacant Commonwealth lightweight title
7 Win 7–0 Hakim Ben Ali TKO 3 (10), 2:41 31 Mar 2018 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Won vacant WBA International lightweight title
6 Win 6–0 Lee Connelly TKO 4 (8), 2:19 13 Dec 2017 York Hall, London, England
5 Win 5–0 Lester Cantillano PTS 4 28 Oct 2017 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
4 Win 4–0 Jamie Speight TKO 1 (6), 2:28 1 Sep 2017 York Hall, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Josh Thorne RTD 1 (4), 3:00 27 May 2017 Bramall Lane, Sheffield, England
2 Win 2–0 Sergej Vib TKO 1 (4), 1:59 29 Apr 2017 Wembley Stadium, London, England
1 Win 1–0 Jose Aguilar TKO 4 (4), 2:17 22 Apr 2017 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England

References
  1. "BoxRec: Joe Cordina". boxrec.com. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  2. "60KG – Joseph Cordina". AIBA. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  3. Griffiths, Gareth (17 August 2015). "Boxing superstar Joe Cordina celebrating European gold, just a month after becoming a father for the first time". Wales Online. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  4. "Boxing: Joe Cordina claims European bronze". Wales Online. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  5. "Joe Cordina qualifies for 2016 Rio Olympics!". Boxing Wales. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  6. Lewis, Ron (26 July 2014). "Joe Cordina lifts Welsh spirits with victory over Pat McCormack". The Times. UK. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  7. Selby, Andrew (27 July 2014). "Commonwealth Games 2014: Boxer Joe Cordina powers his way into quarter-finals". Wales Online. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  8. Penman, Andrew (29 July 2014). "Medal in the bag, but Joe Cordina wants gold". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  9. Penman, Andrew (1 August 2014). "Joe Cordina beaten as Welsh boxers have to settle for bronze". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  10. Grifiths, Gareth (9 October 2015). "Welsh boxer Joe Cordina moves into World Championships quarter-final". Wales Online. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  11. "Boxing World Championships: Joe Joyce into semi-finals but trio lose". BBC Sport. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  12. Griffiths, Gareth (12 October 2015). "Welsh boxer Joe Cordina bows out in World Championships quarter-finals". Wales Online. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  13. "Joe Cordina: Olympic qualification 'means everything'". BBC Sport. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  14. "Olympic boxing: Nicola Adams among eight British qualifiers for Rio 2016". BBC Sport. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  15. "BoxRec: Bout". boxrec.com. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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