By Mark Eisner: IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina (17-0, 9 KOs) retained his title with a twelve round majority decision win over challenger Edward Vazquez (15-2, 3 KOs) on Saturday night in Monte Carlo. The scores were 116-112, 116-112 for Cordina, and 114-114 even. Boxing News 24 had it a draw.
The much bigger 5’9″ Cordina, who looked like a rehydrated light 140-pounder, faded down the stretch and was surprisingly moving away from the much smaller & weaker Vazquez.
Cordina had nothing left in the last three rounds, missing a lot of shots and getting worked over on the inside by faster, more compact Vazquez.
Vazquez caught Cordina repeatedly with a lead left hook in rounds three, six, ten, and eleven that snapped his head back. By the ninth round, Cordina looked worried and red-faced from the shots that he was getting nailed with.
After this poor performance from Cordina, you have to make WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster the favorite if those two fight next.
Live boxing action will be shown below of tonight’s Cordina vs. Vazquez card.
- In a big upset, Adrian Curiel (24-4-1, 5 KOs) stopped IBF light flyweight champion Sivenathi Nontshinga (12-1, 9 KOs) in the round two. In the second round, the 24-year-old Curiel, brought in as a voluntary defense, flattened Nontshinga with a right hand. The contest was then halted at 1:09.
- 2016 Olympian welterweight Souleymane Cissokho (17-0, 9 KOs) boxed his way to a twelve round unanimous against Isaias Lucero (16-2, 10 KOs). Lucero was knocked down in the second by a hard right from Cissokho. The best moment of the fight for the 32-year-old Cissokho, as he was on his bike from the third one, electing not to take chances against the hard-hitting Lucero. The scored were 118-109, 118-109, and 117-110. The way that Lucero pushed the fight from the sixth on, a draw would have been better. With the way the three judges scored the fight, Lucero never stood a chance tonight. Lucero was cut over his left eye in the sixth. Cissokho’s left eye was in bad shape in the twelfth. Lucero looked like the better fighter from the sixth round, because he was on the constant attack, trying to get to the evasive Cissokho, who wanted nothing to do with exchanging. In the ninth, the referee had Lucero’s cut left eye checked out by the ringside doctor. All in all, it was not great stuff from Cissokho, considering that he talked boldly this week about how he would make it exciting, but this was not a great performance by him. He must be more aggressive to have a chance against young lions like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or Giovani Santillan. The running that Cissokho was doing won’t help him beat the better fighters in the 147-lb division.
- Female super bantamweight Ramla Ali (9-1, 2 KOs) defeated Julissa Alejandra Guzman (13-3-2, 7 KOs) by a ten round unanimous decision in their rematch tonight. The scores were 96-94, 96-94 and 96-94. Boxing News 24 had Guzman winning as she landed the cleaner, harder shots. Ramla was generally spoiling, throwing weak jabs, holding frequently, and moving. It wasn’t as entertaining as their previous fight last June, which Guzman won by an eighth round knockout. Tonight, it was clear that Ramla’s game plan was to move & hold to negate the power of Guzman, but she wasn’t landing anything substantial other than pawing jabs, making it difficult to give her more than two or three rounds. Ramla got away with hitting on the break, which should have resulted in point deductions.
Joe Cordina defends his IBF super featherweight title tonight against the upset-minded Edward Vazquez in their headliner on a Matchroom-promoted card in Monte Carlo. The event will be shown on DAZN, beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. This is Edward’s big opportunity to beat the favorite Cordina (16-0, 9 KOs) and then move forward to a unification clash against champions Emanuel Navarrete or O’Shaquie Foster
Cordina (16-0, 9 KOs) needs a good showing here to make himself a viable option for a unification fight against WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster next.
Main Card
Joe Cordina vs. Edward Vazquez
Sivenathi Nontshinga vs. Adrian Curiel
Souleymane Cissokho vs. Isaias Lucero
Julissa Guzman vs. Ramla Ali
Many boxing fans believe Edward Vazquez was robbed last year in his ten round split decision to the Eddie Hearn-promoted fighter Raymon Ford, and some would argue that he should still be undefeated.
The way Vazquez fought against Foster, he has an excellent chance tonight of beating Cordina, who is kind of a one-trick pony, throwing single power shots and always looking for a one-punch knockout.
A spectacular knockout tonight, like the one Cordina produced against Kenichi Ogawa last year, would help his chances of getting the Foster fight.
Given his lack of name recognition and his fights on a rival network, the 31-year-old Cordina’s chances of facing the Top Rank-promoted WBO 130-lb champion Emanuel Navarrete next are slim & none.
Navarrete is a big name now, fights on ESPN, and his promoters at Top Rank would not be interested in the Eddie Hearn-promoted Cordina, a DAZN guy.
Even if Cordina beats Foster, who didn’t look at all good in his last fight against Rocky Hernandez, he probably won’t get a shot at Navarrete. Again, the lack of name recognition in the U.S., fighting for Matchroom, and being on DAZN would make it unlikely Navarrete will fight him.
Cordina vs. Vazquez = 50-50 fight
“I must say that when O’Shaquie Foster defended his [WBC super featherweight] world title last week in Mexico, I said to him, ‘You vs. Cordina next in a unification,’ and he said, ‘He’s got to get past Edward Vazquez. I know him, I spar with him, and this is a tough, tough’ for what he says is a ’50-50 fight,'” said Eddie Hearn at the final press conference this week for the Cordina vs. Vazquez contest.
“The way that Cordina looked in his last fight against Shavkatdzhon
Rakhimov last April, it’s understandable why Foster sees tonight’s contest as a 50-50 affair.
Cordina is an excellent fighter, but he’s vulnerable and well short of the elite level that we see in other guys around that weight class, like Emanuel Navarrete & Robeisy Ramirez. Those fighters are on another level as Cordina, but he’ll likely never meet up with either of them, so it’s a good thing for him.
“Joe Cordina is looking for the big unifications next year; the stadium fights, but the man [Vazque] to my left with the life-long dreams to become world champion gets that opportunity on Saturday night.
“Edward, I’ve been impressed with your interviews. Calm, cool, collected, and focused on your lifelong dream on Saturday night.”
“He hasn’t put on any performances to show that he’s got something to beat me,” said Joe Cordina to Boxing Social, talking about Edward Vazquez saying that he’s arrogant. “I’m taking it very seriously. Whatever he said that, I’m taking it lightly and overlooking him; that’s not the case at all.
“I’ve never overlooked a journeyman. It only takes one shot in boxing. I believe it will ignite early on, but the class will show in the end. It’s a big opportunity for him.”