Joe Cordina: 'If I was English I'd be a superstar, I wouldn't be able to walk down the road'

• ITV Cymru Wales Sports reporter Matt Southcombe sat down with two-time IBF super-featherweight World Champion Joe Cordina.

In his own words, Joe Cordina has achieved virtually everything there is to achieve in the sport of boxing.

Welsh champion, British champion and European gold medalist, Joe has fought at the world championships and the Olympics. As a professional, he bypassed the European title to become a World Champion in 15 fights.

But the one thing he hasn't done is fight at the Cardiff City Stadium, home of his beloved Bluebirds.

For Cordina - who is undefeated in his 17 professional fights - to achieve this final ambition, the numbers would have to make sense and the stadium would need to be full.

At this juncture, it's unlikely Cordina alone would draw in the fans to fill the 33,000-seater stadium.

When asked if he feels he gets the recognition he deserves, he told ITV Wales: "It might be a bit controversial what I'm going to say, but if I was English I'd be a superstar, I wouldn't be able to walk down the road.

"Boxing is big in Wales but the number of top-level fighters we have is small and all the top fighters are with different promoters. So it's hard for us to bring a big show here.

"I think that's why it's so hard and I don't have the recognition because if we were building shows around myself and Liam Williams and Lauren Price we'd just be much bigger as a boxing nation."

The idea of getting the best boxers in Wales on the same card for one show is tantalising but is fraught with challenges.

It does, however, appear to be one eventuality that might give Cordina the chance to fight at Cardiff City's ground.

But it will need to happen fast because, by his own estimations, he has 'two or three' years left in the sport.

"I'm a Cardiff boy, and being a Cardiff fan, it's [The Cardiff City Stadium] one of those places, especially when you're a boxer, you always pick a venue that you want to fight in and you stick to it, you dream about it, you visualise it," Cordina says as his eyes light up.

"If it was a choice of being an undisputed champion and fighting for just one world title in Cardiff City Stadium I'd pick fighting here all day long. I want to tick it off my list before I retire.

"I want to do that before I leave the sport." Earlier this month, Cordina beat Edward Vazquez on points to defend his IBF Super-Featherweight world title in Monaco.

After the fight, the pair exchanged words and things got a little heated with the American feeling he was robbed. "I just thought it was disrespectful really," said the Welshman.

"He was saying he won this, that and the other but he didn't do anything. Normally you have marks on your face for a week or two, I don't have any marks on my face, clearly, it shows he didn't catch me as much as I caught him.

"He was just a bit bitter, there were no excuses, I had a bad day and I still beat him. You've got to come and rip it off a champion and he didn't do it.

"It is what it is, we just leave people like that in the dust and move on."

After the fight, Cordina's promoter Eddie Hearn - the pair are now out of contract - suggested it was time for the Welshman to take a risk in his next fight to elevate himself to the next level.

Cordina isn't so sure but insists he's willing to fight anyone. "I've rolled the dice, I want to reap the rewards now," he said. "I'm a two-time world champion in 17 fights.

"I've taken two risks. I took the risk of fighting for a world title and I wasn't meant to win. Then I got stripped unfairly.

"They [Cordina's team] wanted me to have a warm-up fight but I jumped straight back into a world title fight with a killer in Shavkat Rakhimov.

"I've always said it, as long as I'm getting paid I don't mind jumping in with anyone on the planet, I'm not scared of no man, it' is what it is, it's business, that's all it is."

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