Joe Cordina was an unlikely entrant in the Knockout of the Year race the last time he played this venue.

A different kind of repeat business is sought by the unbeaten Welshman, however, upon his return to the Cardiff International Arena. Cordina hopes to regain the IBF junior lightweight title he won in a second-round knockout of

Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa last June 4 in his hometown.

The belt is at stake, though with Cordina once again forced to play the role of challenger versus current title claimant Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (17-0-1, 14KOs). Another knockout would be nice, though how he wins is less of a focus than merely reclaiming what he feels is his entitled property.  

“He comes forward. He’s strong. I won’t have to go looking for him,” acknowledged Cordina of the unbeaten Tajikistani southpaw. “It could end [inside] the distance. I just go out there to get the win and I push on.

“I said the same thing when we had Ogawa. I just want to get the win and move on. If it goes within the distance, that’s good. Like we say in boxing, we don’t get paid for overtime.”

Cordina (15-0, 9KOs) went the full distance five times in his past seven bouts prior to last June’s title shot. The 31-yaer-old boxer boasts underrated power but was never known as a one-hitter quitter.

That changed in an instant last June when Cordina violently snatched the IBF 130-pound title from Ogawa following a vicious right hand that floored the visiting titlist in a heap.

Unfortunately, it was the last punch that Cordina has thrown in a fight that counts. A training camp injury last fall led to his forced withdrawal of a November 5 mandatory title defense versus Rakhimov in Abu Dhabi. The IBF title stripped Cordina of the title which Rakhimov claimed in an off-the-canvas, ninth-round knockout of England’s Zelfa Barrett on that same Abu Dhabi card.

Cordina had no choice but to accept that fate and his repeat role as hometown challenger.

“He’s a world champion at the end of the day,” Cordina noted of Rakhimov, though against whom bet365 lists him as a -300 favorite to become a two-time titlist. “I’ve seen him. He’s tough, he’s strong, he’s fit. But I believe that I have that little bit more that he doesn’t have to beat me.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox