Joe Cordina was the first to acknowledge Saturday night wasn’t his best showing, but the 31-year-old would’ve learned from the experience and more importantly, remained unbeaten after a majority decision (114-114, 116-112 x 2) win over a gamely effort by Edward Vasquez in their Monte-Carlo main event.
Vasquez did enough to win, but Cordina retained his title
114-114, 116-112 x 2: Joe Cordina bt. Edward Vasquez via majority decision
- Cordina concedes it was a tough fight against a good opponent who made things difficult, but insists he did better work after head coach Tony Sims’ assessment through ten rounds: “I didn’t box my best but did enough to win by a few rounds… there’s no marks on my face, there are on his.”
- Vasquez was understandably unhappy: “Everything happens for a reason, I’ll be back, everyone knows I won but guess what, they did it to me again [lost split decision to Raymond Ford in Feb. 2022]. He wasn’t able to do anything he wanted the whole fight, couldn’t land his right hand or left hook, no power! All the other 130lbs will walk through him.”
- WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete returns on Nov. 16 in title defence vs. Robson Conceicao, WBC titlist O’Shaquie Foster already called out the Welshman following a comeback win last weekend and WBA champion Hector Luis Garcia also returning later in November while featherweight world champion Leigh Wood at City Ground next May an option
- Eddie Hearn, Cordina’s promoter, says: “116-112 is too wide, but I had Joe edging a gruelling fight. No disrespect to Vasquez but you’ll see the best of Cordina in those big challenges, he’ll have to be better when testing himself after a real close one. I believe he can beat everyone at 130lbs, the champion might fancy their chances but I love domestic fights too.”
During fight week, Joe Cordina spoke about how Monte-Carlo has a special place in his heart after last boxing there to a 10-round decision against Mario Enrique Tinoco.
Since then, he’d won five straight – including two world title fights almost a year apart against Kenichi Ogawa and Shavkat Rakhimov – and as bigger fights were in the offing, couldn’t afford to overlook a determined operator in Edward Vasquez.
Here, he was hit early and often against an American with a chip on his shoulder after losing a split decision against unbeaten compatriot Raymond Ford 21 months earlier.
History repeated itself for the 28-year-old, who made a point to question Cordina’s credentials against the other super-featherweight world champions during a heated post-fight exchange. While tempers were predictably heightened immediately after battle, this gruelling display will set tongues wagging at 130lbs given the landscape.
“I didn’t really have to work hard for [the win], it was about trying to track him down and pin him… he’s a tough fighter but like he said in the press conference, don’t make excuses… you lost, end of story.”
– Cordina’s ringside interview
Given the dismissive nature others had been talking in the build-up to this bout, assuming Cordina wouldn’t just win well but ignoring Vasquez’s chances of an upset entirely, it wasn’t surprising to see tension build between them afterwards.
After all, Vasquez made his presence felt early and often in the pocket as they exchanged leather, sneaking uppercuts and body shots in round one while Cordina was calculated with his output, admonished by referee Mark Calo-oy after landing to the back of the head late in a first stanza.
Vasquez continued to throw punches in bunches up close as both were content trading at centre ring, waiting for a defensive opening to pounce on. Cordina did the better head-snapping work, but was getting caught clean for his troubles.
That became increasingly clear during periods in the third, guilty of being too slow to exit their exchanges and absorbing avoidable damage as a consequence – two right hooks and a left landed for the challenger, emboldening him further.
Cordina seemed to be boxing angrily midway through the fourth, having endured a minute-long spell where Vasquez was the aggressor while the champion frequently hit air in response.
His fast hands and combination punching was telegraphed to the point where the Texan saw most of them coming, either blocking or weaving out to safety, and thus the Welshman’s better attacks – like uppercuts – came in the pocket.
Round five was scrappy for large periods with Vasquez landing the more noteworthy flurries but Cordina continuing to invest in his body work.
Cordina began the sixth by boxing with his back to the ropes trying to counterpunch when Vasquez charged forward, a risky strategy that required patience and importantly more separation than he could maintain.
The 28-year-old stayed tight to him and landed clubbing blows, intensifying a pace the defending champion was forced to withstand in his firefight with Shavkat Rakhimov earlier in the year.
Cordina’s punch output was better in a nip-and-tuck seventh round, but again he began the eighth absorbing damage from shots that shouldn’t have been catching him on the chin.
Whether it was fatigue or Vazquez picking up on subtle body language cues knowing when to press and when to hold his ground, the champion wasn’t very elusive when countering and backing into the ropes almost got him into trouble again.
Whenever Cordina would have a period of success, it would almost immediately be followed by him absorbing a lazy shot or three and that’s difficult for judges to consider in a competitive clash where both had stints of repeated success.
He fared better in the tenth, body work wasn’t deterring Vasquez but making him think twice for a split second and that made for a compelling final six minutes all things considered.
This is where Tony Sims told his charge he was trailing on the scorecards and midway through the round, Vasquez landed a snapping left forcing Cordina forward as the champion was guilty of leaving his head exposed – not for the first time.
His aggressive bursts were fleeting and largely blocked by the career featherweight, but into a final round they soon entered where the champion’s counters and forward pressure saw him finish on top.
Picture source: Getty Images
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