Steve Bunce
Boxing expert on BBC Radio 5 Live

I was stunned today to find out the bookies have placed Joe as a slight betting favourite - that's probably down to Eddie Hearn.

Cordina has to be an underdog in this fight.

Joshua Buatsi
2016 Olympic bronze medallist

I’m a big believer in the Welsh Wizard, it’ll be an up and down fight but you’ve got to believe the time is now.

Concentrate on what you’ve been working on in camp and it’s time to execute.

Image source, Getty Images

Bookmakers make Cordina slight favourite ahead of champion Ogawa, despite the Japanese boxer winning 26 of his 28 contests, with 18 wins coming inside the distance.

Promoter Eddie Hearn expects Ogawa to provide a huge test for Cordina, a fighter he has promoted since he turned professional in 2017.

"I know the bookies have Joe as the favourite, but I think he's the underdog," Hearn said. "I know he's at home and has all the ability to get it right on the night, but he's never boxed at this level.

"World-title fights should be 50-50 like this. If he wins, he's a fully fledged world champion, it would not be a paper belt. But to do it he's got to beat a very tough fighter."

Cordina's homecoming has brought opportunities for some compatriots, with four Welsh fighters on the undercard.

"Boxing in Wales needs a hero and Joe is the guy to do it," added Hearn. "He's a young man, great fighter, great talent, a great role model and right now he's the only guy I see in Wales with the ability to go out there and compete regularly in world-class fights.

"There are four Welsh kids on the undercard and for them you need Joe to win, come back in September, defend your title. Then Joe can go and fight Shakur Stevenson and then all these young kids get their chance on the card as well."

Barry Jones
Former super-featherweight world champion on BBC Radio 5 live

The step up from European to world levels varies in weight categories, it depends on the champion at the time.

This step up for Cordina is massive. The level of Ogawa, we haven't seen Joe against a puncher or in a war of attrition and that might happen tonight.

Cordina is physical and naturally talented but you need everything - will to win, a bit of luck and getting it right on the night, for Joe that will be the difference tonight.

Japan's Kenichi Ogawa won the title in New York's legendary Madison Square Garden in November, thanks to a unanimous points win over Azinga Fuzile, with the South African knocked down twice - in the fifth and 12th rounds.

Speaking about tonight's fight, Ogawa said: "Joe says he’s going to knock me out in our fight, we will find out. It will be interesting to see what happens.

"I plan to be very aggressive in the ring and have an exciting match but at the end of the day it’s up to Joe and how he wants to come out.”

Some more thoughts from key names in boxing...

Barry Jones
Former super-featherweight world champion on BBC Radio 5 live

It's everything, even though Cardiff is a city it's a small community.

These are not just fans but friends and family.

Everyone is connected, when you win they're with you, when you lose they're with you and it means so much.

How do you train to become a champion?

Earlier this week, we published a video of British boxers Joe Cordina and Zelfa Barrett as they break down the most important exercises used in their fight camps before a big night for both fighters.

Promoter Matchroom Boxing has produced this video for BBC Sport to demonstrate the level of training required to be a professional boxer.

The winner of tonight's main event could well take on Manchester's Zelfa Barrett next after he just produced a punch-perfect display to gain a massive points win over Belgium's Faroukh Kourbanov to become the European super-featherweight champion.

We are up and running with our coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live so press the play button at the top of this page to listen to our commentary team of Ronald McIntosh, Steve Bunce and Barry Jones.

Image source, Matchroom Boxing

Joe Cordina's hand injuries have stalled his aspirations, but one of Wales' greatest ever boxers, Joe Calzaghe, who himself battled damaged hands throughout his stellar career, feels Cordina is in a good place to show he is a world-level fighter.

After injury stopped him boxing in 2020, Cordina impressed in three comeback fights in 2021 as he picked up victories against Faroukh Kourbanov, Joshuah Hernandez and Miko Khatchatryan.

"It really takes me back, a big world title fight at the arena in Cardiff," Calzaghe said. "Joe has a lot of similarities with me. He's had a few struggles with injuries, but he's got a superb skillset and a great boxing brain.

"That's what I want to see from him on fight night. I want to see him using his boxing skills and his footwork. It's a big test against a strong fighter, a massive test, but I think he can do it.

"I've been speaking to Joe and he says his hands have felt good for his last few fights and that's a really good positive, there is nothing worse in a fight than when your hands go and I know that as it has happened to me a fair few times."

Image source, Getty Images

Joe Cordina, 30, will headline a show in his home city as he bids to follow in some famous footsteps.

There is no denying Cardiff has already witnessed some all-time classics across the capital, the Welsh pantheon of pugilism.

Click here to see how BBC Sport Wales took a look back at over a century of big boxing events in Cardiff.

We are currently in the 11th round of a European super-featherweight title bout between Zelfa Barrett of Manchester and Belgium's Faroukh Kourbanov and Joe Cordina back stage is nearly ready for action.

Image source, Getty Images

Joe Cordina, a relative late-comer to boxing having first laced a glove as a 15-year old, says he is one fight away from making his dreams a reality.

"I'm feeling good," said Cordina, who represented Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics. "The weight is good, I've prepared well, now I need to grab that world title that I have been chasing for so long.

"To be sat in the centre of the top table at the press conference, to be sat next to Eddie [Hearn], it is a bit different, but it is something I have wanted for a long time.

"To fight in Wales is great. I am always on the road but I've never been the centre of attention and now I am, in Cardiff - it is all I could ever ask for. I've got to embrace the fact the focus is on me, I've got to enjoy the moment."

Cordina, who is unbeaten in 14 fights as a professional after a superb amateur career, has seen his opportunities limited in recent years by a hand injury that required surgery and threatened his career.

Here are some predictions from big names in the boxing world...

Image source, Getty Images

On the undercard, Gamal Yafai, who has held European and Commonwealth super-bantamweight belts, made an impressive return to the ring after more than a year out of action with a fourth-round TKO victory over Liverpool's late stand-in Sean Cairns.

Australia's Skye Nicolson, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 2018, maintained her unbeaten record as a professional with a dominant points win over Uruguay's Gabriela Bouvier in a featherweight bout.

Dalton Smith made it 11 wins out of 11 in the super-lightweight category as his opponent Mauro Perouene of Argentina retired from the fight at the end of the sixth round.

Michael Pearlman
BBC Sport Wales at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

Joe Cordina's fans are not as raucous as Liam Williams' were four months ago in this very arena, when he was given a rough night by Chris Eubank Jr.

However, that was a grudge fight, this is a world title fight and there is a palpable tension in the air, because these are Joe Cordina's people and they know tonight is the night where he can make his career dreams come true.

Cordina sold 1,000 tickets himself - Josh Warrington or Lewis Ritson numbers - and his fans are ready to celebrate long into the night in he wins.

And the party won't stop in Wales, because this just happens to be a huge weekend of sport culminating in Wales' World Cup play-off against Ukraine tomorrow.

As always, feel free to get involved and have your say on tonight's action by using the hashtag #bbcboxing on Twitter.

Image source, .

Joe Cordina will bid to become Wales' 13th world boxing champion when he challenges Kenichi Ogawa for the IBF super featherweight crown in Cardiff.

But of the dozen Welshmen who have already won world titles, who is the greatest of them all?

Where would you rate early pioneers like Percy Jones, Freddie Welsh and Jimmy Wilde against more recent fighters including multiple belt holder Joe Calzaghe?

Click here to read about each of the champions and then use our selector to rank the fighters from one to 12.

Image source, Getty Images

Joe Cordina says a chance to fight for a world title in his home city is "all he could ask for" as he bids to become Wales' 13th world champion.

The 30-year old faces IBF super-featherweight champion Kenichi Ogawa in Cardiff in a career-defining contest. No Welsh fighter has won a world title since Lee Selby in 2015.

"To win would make me feel on top of the world - some great Welsh boxers never got to be world champions," Cordina told BBC Sport Wales.

"I will have secured the future for my family and I'll be a world champion, what more could I need?

"To be here, in my home city, fighting for a world title, I could not ask for anything more and I plan on grabbing the chance with both hands."