Joe Cordina vs Anthony Cacace Preview May 18th, 2024
Unbeaten IBF Super Featherweight Champion Joe Cordina of Cardiff, Wales travels to Saudi Arabia this Saturday, May 18th to defend his title against IBO Champion Anthony Cacace of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The 12-rounder can be seen live in most nations on DAZN pay-per-view on the undercard of the Usyk vs fury heavyweight clash. It’s also on TNT Box Office in the UK and Ireland and ESPN+ PPV in America. Cordina stopped Kenichi Ogawa in the second round in June, 2022, to win the title but was stripped of it when he failed to meet Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in November due to injury. Rakhimov then got up from the canvas in the third round to stop Zelfa Barrett in the ninth round to win the vacant title. Cordina eventually met Rakhimov in April, 2023 and edged him by split decision to take the belt. He defended it by majority decision against Edward Vasquez in his last outing in November. Cacace last saw action in May when he downed Damian Wrzesinski by 12-round unanimous decision to defend his belt.
**Watch live on DAZN this Saturday. Your first month is free
Cordina vs Cacace Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Anthony Cacace +350
- Joe Cordina -500
My Pick
The 32-year-old Cordina owns a perfect record of 17-0 with 9 Ko’s and has boxed 105 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017. Before that he enjoyed a fine amateur career as he competed at the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships, the 2012 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament and the 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships. He then won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a gold at the 2015 European Championships.
He also boxed at the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships where he was beaten by Robson Conceição and went 1-1 at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since turning pro, Cordina has also captured the WBA International, Commonwealth Boxing Council, and BBBoC British Lightweight Titles as well as the WBA Continental Super Featherweight Title.
Cordina measures 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 69-inch reach. He isn’t known as a knockout artist but possesses a respectable knockout ratio of 52.3 per cent. He’s gone the distance in seven of his last 10 fights but scored a sensational KO over Ogawa. It came as a bit of a surprise to most fans as Cordina had never never taken on a legitimate world contender before meeting Ogawa, let alone a champion, as he had faced the likes of Jamie Speight, Hakim Ben Ali, Sean Dodd, Andy Townend, Mario Tinoco and Gavin Gwynne.
The 35-year-old Cacace is a southpaw who climbs through the ropes with an impressive mark of 21-1 with 7 Ko’s and has 144 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2012 following his amateur days. As an amateur he won the Ulster Championships in 2008 and 2009 and made the final of the 2008 Irish National Championships and won the 2007 Irish Under-19 championships. He measures 5-feet-10-inches tall but has an unlisted reach so is an inch taller than Cordina.
The lone blemish on Cacace’s pro record is a 12-round unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Martin J Ward in 2017 in a shot at the British and Commonwealth Super Featherweight Titles. As far as power goes, Cacace doesn’t possess much of it as just 33.3 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and he’s gone the distance in his past eight outings. He won the British Title in 2019 via a 12-round split decision over Sam Bowen and defended it against Leon Woodstock by unanimous decision.
Cacace also captured the IBO Belt in 2022 with a split decision over Michael Magnesi and defended it against Wrzesinski in his last contest. He won the vacant British Celtic Super Featherweight Title in 2015 with a 10th-round stoppage over Ronnie Clark. This will be just the third time Cacace has travelled outside of the UK to fight as a pro.
Prediction…
Cordina has definitely surprised a few fans with his impressive wins over Ogawa and Rakhimov but he wasn’t as convincing against Vasquez. Still, Cacace doesn’t really have the power to deter Cordina from taking the fight to him but he does possess pretty good boxing skills. Cordina is also a fine boxer and his power shouldn’t be underestimated. I’m expecting Cordina to retain his title on Saturday and then hopefully step up the level of competition again in his next outing.
Vasquez’s lack of power will lead to a Cordina victory.
Play Cordina -500 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Anthony Cacace betting • Joe Cordina betting