By Paul Jones

Joe Cordina insists he has given “journeyman” challenger Edward Vazquez plenty of respect ahead of their world title fight in Monte Carlo on Saturday night.

The Welsh IBF super featherweight champion (16-0, 9 KOs) first became world champion in June 2022 when he dispatched Kenichi Ogawa with a shuddering one-punch knockout.

However, a subsequent injury lay-off necessitated by hand surgery saw the 31-year-old stripped of his crown, with Shavkat Rakhimov beating Zelfa Barrett for the vacant belt in November last year.

The upshot was an enthralling back-and-forth showdown between Rakhimov and Cordina this April in Cardiff where Cordina prevailed via a unanimous decision in front of a delighted home crowd.

Now, Cordina makes the first defence of his second reign as when he takes on American Vazquez.

“He’s a good fighter, I’ve never once disrespected him. I’m taking this very seriously, don’t worry about that,” he said.

“I saw in an interview that I am taking him lightly, trust me, I’ve never taken a journeyman lightly never mind a world title fight.

“Without me winning on Saturday, those big fights aren’t going to be there for me, so I’ll do everything possible to get the win.”

Let’s go Joe X2 🏆#fightday@MatchroomBoxing @JoeCordina_91 #welshwizard pic.twitter.com/IVrALkHeCf

— Sash (@sashshots) November 4, 2023

Texan Vazquez (15-1, 3 KOs) is stepping up to the 130-pound limit for the first time, having won four bouts in succession on the back of a split-decision loss to the highly-rated Ray Ford in February 2022.

In his regular column in Sportin’ Wales magazine, Cordina said: “It’s been a hard few weeks getting ready for that fight in Monte Carlo on November 4. Hard, exhausting and draining, but necessary.

“My plan is to take a little time off through December and January and then look to fight again in the spring. I need a couple of months to properly re-charge.

“The fight I’m really after is to take on WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete in a unification bout. That would, hopefully, be a really popular fight and allow me to make some serious money.

“Navarrette is unbeaten and a clearly a very talented fighter, but I’d love to get in a ring with him, in front of a huge crowd. Two world champions together, it would be a massive fight.

“The other possible fight some people have been talking about is for me to defend against world featherweight champion Leigh Wood.

“Leigh is a good fighter and I obviously watched his win over Josh Washington the other day. Yeah, it was alright.

Tonight’s the night…

⚖️ @JoeCordina_91 129.9lbs
⚖️ Edward Vazquez 128.8lbs

The DAZN broadcast starts at 8pm with three digits before #CordinaVazquez. pic.twitter.com/aLoImjmVSa

— KO Cymru (@KOCymru) November 4, 2023

“He rolled back the years a bit, but I wouldn’t say he was unbelievable, and I didn’t see anything there we haven’t seen before. He boxed the same way he always boxes. He bangs away.

“But people have to remember that I’ve got a world title at the weight above the one he’s fighting at.

“It has to be a credible fight. Yeah, Leigh’s been struggling to make the weight at featherweight for a while and there’s been talk of hm stepping up to super-featherweight.

“But I noticed that as soon as my name got mentioned, he changed the subject pretty quickly. He didn’t sound in a hurry to fight me.

“There’s been a suggestion that if we did meet he wants to fight at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, because he’s a local and a fan of the club.

“But, hang on a minute. I’m the guy with the title!

“If he wants a shot at my title, then okay I’ll give him a shot. But he’ll have to come to Cardiff.”