Joe Cordina didn’t sparkle but he was good enough.
The unbeaten 130-pound titleholder from Wales defeated Edward Vazquez by a majority decision to retain his belt on Saturday night in Monte Carlo. The official scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 114-114.
Cordina (17-0, 9 KOs) looked good at times, fighting behind his jab, but he could never separate himself from the capable Vazquez (15-2, 3 KOs) in a close fight.
The beltholder outlanded the challenger only 170 to 164 overall, according to CompuBox.
“He’s tricky and he’s clever,” Cordina said afterward, per ESPN. “I had to track him down and work him out. Going into the 10th, my trainer told me it was level. I didn’t box to my best, but I still think I did enough to win. There are no marks on my face, but there are marks on his.
“I didn’t perform to my best, and he couldn’t beat me on my worst night, and he’s a sore loser.”
An angry Vazquez was convinced he deserved the victory.
“I will be back,” he said. “Everyone watching around the world knows I won. [Matchroom promoter] Eddie Hearn knows I won. He wasn’t able to do what he wanted to, he had no power, he couldn’t land his right hand or left hook, and all the others at 130 pounds will walk through him.”
Two potential opponents for Cordina are fellow titleholders Emanuel Navarrete and O’Shaquie Foster, as well as 126-pound champ Leigh Wood of England.
Cordina was making his first defense in his second reign as IBF titleholder. The 2016 Olympian won the belt by stopping Kenichi Ogawa in the second round in June of last year, his first major belt.
He was then stripped after a hand injury forced him to pull out of a defense against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov that was scheduled for last November, after which Rakhimov stopped Zelfa Barrett to win the title. And, finally, Cordina defeated Rakhimov by a split decision to regain the belt on April 22.
