Joe Cordina: Welsh boxer says he considered quitting boxing

Joe Cordina says he considered walking away from boxing when he learned he would need hand surgery.

He was stripped of his IBF world super-featherweight title in October because of injury, four months after he won it, and had a long rehabilitation.

Cordina, 31, has a point to prove on Saturday against champion Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in Cardiff, fighting for the world title he never lost in the ring.

"There was a time when I was in a bad place," Cordina told BBC Sport Wales.

"I thought 'forget this, I might as well pack it in'.

"When I had my injury to my metacarpal, it took 18-months to heal.

"I thought that if it was going to be like that again, there would be no point in carrying on.

"But I spoke to the surgeon and he said it would be three months and then I would be punching again.

"We moved on then."

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Cordina won in June 2022 in stunning fashion when he became Wales' 13th world champion with a second-round knockout win over Kenichi Ogawa.

The Welshman is still disappointed at the decision to remove his title four months later, but Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn feels the IBF acted understandably.

Rakhimov was supposed to be the mandatory challenger to Cordina after stepping aside to allow Cordina to face Ogawa in Cardiff.

The IBF originally granted a 90-day extension when Cordina injured his hand a week after facing Ogawa, but he then broke his hand and required surgery on his first day of training for the Rakhimov fight, which had been scheduled for Abu Dhabi in November.

"I will be outspoken, but in this case the rules were the rules, Joe got the Ogawa fight on the understanding the winner fought Rakhimov within 90 days," Hearn said.

"It was unquestionably harsh on Joe, but it was the right decision.

"He hurt his hand just a week after the Ogawa fight and I was worried... but we got an extension and everything was great and he went back into training.

"Then in the first punch of his first spar in training camp he broke his hand and I knew that the writing was on the wall and I had to deliver the news to Joe.

"I was gutted for him as he had so much momentum.

"But we wrapped a deal up to sign Rakhimov and for him to fight Zelfa Barrett and I was able to then tell Joe he would fight the winner and lead into a massive show in Cardiff."

Cordina, unbeaten in 15 fights as a professional, has been living away from his family since turning professional to train with Tony Sims in Essex and says he will not be denied on what he expects to be another special night in Cardiff.

"I'm grateful for this opportunity back in my home town and it's going to be a tough night," he said.

"We have to get that win to bring big nights of boxing back to Cardiff again and again.

"I've sacrificed myself, I've missed kids' birthdays, two of their births. Everything I'm doing now is to provide for them in the future and he [Rakhimov] is standing in my way."