Joe Cordina plans to follow watching Shakur Stevenson defeat William Zepeda by meeting his promoter Eddie Hearn to agree a date for his next fight before the end of 2025.
The 33 year old returned to the ring a week before Stevenson-Zepeda when, under his new trainer Gary Lockett and in the first fight of a new promotional agreement with Matchroom, he eased to victory over Mexico’s Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz.
Over 10 rounds at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, he also fought for the first time since the occasion of his first defeat, when sacrificing his IBF junior-lightweight title to Ireland’s Anthony Cacace in May 2024 contributed to separating from his then-trainer Tony Sims and him permanently moving to 135lbs.
Since then and before agreeing to fight Quiroz, Cordina had also agreed to challenge the WBC lightweight champion Stevenson before experiencing the disappointment of Stevenson withdrawing through injury and ultimately fighting the previously undefeated Zepeda – also of Mexico – instead.
With victory over Quiroz, Cordina re-established himself as a contender in the competitive lightweight division. Whether Stevenson will also continue to be promoted by Matchroom remains unclear, but Matchroom are also guiding Andy Cruz towards the IBF title held by Raymond Muratalla, and regardless will recognise the value of keeping Cordina busy after the Welshman’s lengthy period out.
“When I sat with Eddie, he said, ‘We’ll get the 5th of July out the way and then go for the end of October’,” Cordina told BoxingScene. “It’s end of October; November; December; I’m easy. I’m gonna start running this week, and then start ticking over. Eddie’s been away this weekend; I’m gonna give him a couple of days, get back to the UK [from my holiday in Malta], settle down, give him a bell and go from there and see what’s on the cards. [I want] something that gets me close to a world title.
“[Being back was] good. I felt a bit rusty, but that’s understandable – I’d had 14 months out. It was expected. There were times I could have followed up the attacks and stuff, but it’s just timing. Overall, I’d say it was a good performance, considering I’d had 14 months out.
“I got an extra five pounds to play with. I’m eating the day before the weigh-in; main meals, and having snacks in between, and having breakfast the morning of the weigh-in. Obviously it wasn’t a big breakfast, ‘cause you’re weighing in at 10 o’clock. [But] it was a nice feeling to not struggle. It was nice.
“Put it this way – I don’t know how I managed to get through the last couple of weeks [of training camps at junior lightweight]. A couple of fights before that I was struggling – the people around me obviously know how hard it was for me to make weight. If [others] had seen what I had to go through to make the weight, they’d have a different perspective on my performance. It was definitely difficult.
“It was a breath of fresh air [fighting under Gary Lockett]. I had a new team around me. I could still keep Mark Seltzer in my corner, who’s been there from the start, and Bill Moran, who’s been there from the start, as well as my best mate Saurel Baboussi, who takes me on the pads quite a lot, and Gary as my coach. It was a breath of fresh air; something new; everything was calm; it all went well, so I couldn’t ask for more, really. Obviously I’ve got [other] people around me – my cousin Luke Tajul, he’s with me every fight and travelled the world with me, and Sean Aspinal. It was nice; a bit of a change, but I liked it. It’s like when you have a car for a few years, and when you jump in a new one it’s always a nice feeling. Change of team – it was lovely.”
After a period in which the talented Stevenson’s career had perhaps stalled, in victory on Saturday over Zepeda in Queen’s, New York, he produced one of his finest performances and recorded his biggest win.
The career of his leading rival Gervonta “Tank” Davis is, similarly, threatening to stall as a consequence of first the controversy of his majority draw in March with Lamont Roach Jnr, and more recently his arrest on misdemeanour domestic violence charges after him allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend – the mother of two of his children – outside of her home.
“Technically, I’d say, ‘Yeah’,” Cordina responded when asked if Stevenson had proved himself the world’s finest lightweight. “There’s a lot of good fighters out there. You’ve got [Gervonta] Davis as well; I’d always put him up near the top; it’s out of Shakur and ‘Tank’.
“I’ve said it plenty of times [I’d like to fight Stevenson] – until I get into the position of fighting him, it’s pointless. We’ve talked about fighting a few times; it’s been scheduled; it fell out through injury; I thought it was gonna be rescheduled, and then he fought someone else. It’s pointless me keep saying his name. When it happens, it happens; I’d love to fight anybody for the belts. Muratalla’s got the IBF; Shakur the WBC; Tank’s got the WBA; the WBO’s vacant, and Abdullah Mason and Sam Noakes is fighting for it [in November]. Whoever’s got a belt, that’s who I want to fight. I want to test myself against the best; be in with the best. When people talk about boxing they talk about the big names and the big fights, win, lose or draw – especially from the UK. For me, the big fights are Davis and Stevenson.
“[I was] very impressed [by Stevenson]. I didn’t have it that wide – I did have Zepeda taking four out of the first six [rounds], but then after that stage it was pretty comfortable. Shakur got into his rhythm and on to Zepeda’s patterns and what he was doing and started picking him apart, so I was well impressed.
“The performance was very good. You’ve got to deal with what’s in front of you, and [Zepeda] brought something a little bit different to what he’s used to. A lot of people are worried about coming in and getting countered; he just picked him apart quite comfortably. But Zepeda brought a little something new, and [Stevenson] had to go through the gears, which he did, and handled him very well. I was impressed.”
