clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Joe Cordina out of Nov. 5 title defense, stripped by IBF

Joe Cordina will not get a chance to defend his IBF 130 lb title after undergoing hand surgery that took him out of his Nov. 5 fight.

Joe Cordina has been stripped by the IBF after pulling out of his Nov. 5 fight
Joe Cordina has been stripped by the IBF after pulling out of his Nov. 5 fight
Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images
Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

Joe Cordina has been stripped of his IBF junior lightweight title after pulling out of a Nov. 5 mandatory title defense against Shavkat Rakhimov.

Cordina, who just won the title with a crushing second round knockout of Kenichi Ogawa on June 4, recently underwent hand surgery. He shared a photo of his post-surgery hand and some thoughts on Instagram.

“Absolutely gutted,” he wrote. “My (Nov. 5) fight in Abu Dhabi is off due to a hand injury which needed surgery, and to top it off, I’ve been informed that I’ve been stripped of the title.

“I worked my whole life and sacrificed everything to become a world champion, and I ain’t even had the chance to defend it. It feels like I’ve been robbed! Breaks my heart, honestly.”

The 30-year-old Cordina (15-0, 9 KO) went in as an underdog at home in Cardiff against Ogawa, but then made all the past hype of a career that had seemingly stagnated a bit pay off with a right hand to the chin in round two.

The fight with Rakhimov (16-0-1, 13 KO) was set for the Dmitry Bivol vs Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez undercard, and apart from everything else, that card — which was really good on paper — now takes a hit.

The undercard will still feature Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica McCaskill for the undisputed championship at 140 lbs, with Cameron defending her WBC and IBF belts, and the vacant WBA and WBO titles also on the line.

The news also means there is now a third vacant title at 130, following Shakur Stevenson being stripped of the WBC and WBO belts in September after not making weight against Robson Conceicao. The WBC have already ordered Rey Vargas vs O’Shaquie Foster for their vacancy.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Bad Left Hook Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of all your global boxing news from Bad Left Hook