Joe Cordina Scores A Second Round Knockout Over Kenichi Ogawa

The Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales, was the site for the IBF super featherweight championship and what we got was a change of hands as in two rounds, Joe Cordina (15-0, 9 KOs) defeated Kenichi Ogawa (26-1-1,18 KOs). The quick work for Cordina ended with a right hand over the top that hit Ogawa on the button, and when it landed, we had a new champion of the world.

JOE CORDINA JUST DID THAT 👀#OgawaCordina pic.twitter.com/OXsBcqgqVe

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) June 4, 2022

The official time of the highlight reel knockout was 1:15 of round two.

After the fight, Cordina thanked the fans and Joshua Buatsi, who was ringside of the broadcast, for reminding him about bible scriptures and his right hand. After the fight, Eddie Hearn, in the ring, hinted at a possible fight with unified champion Shakur Stevenson. I don’t think that’s happening soon, but you have to name a champion, and well, that’s what happened.

The co-main event was a tactical contest won by Zelfa Barrett, defeating Kourbanov by unanimous points decision to capture the EBU Super Featherweight title. The final scorecards were 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110, all favoring Barrett.

Photo Credit:Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing

It was a pretty clear performance for Barrett, who fought one year to the day his mother passed away. Very emotional night for him, and he fought in her honor proudly, which consisted of outboxing the defensive-minded Kourbanov, and just about was able to do what he wanted throughout twelve rounds of this bout.

The rest of the prelim action, well…happened.

The rest of this undercard had the excitement of just happening with plenty of showcase matches and one-way traffic for the rest of their Matchroom Boxing fighters. That got started on the card as former bantamweight champ Gamal Yafai (19-2) worked over an outgunned Sean Cains (8-4) over four rounds. Cains tried to make this fight longer when he spit his mouthguard out after being knocked down in the third round. It didn’t help, and a huge left hook in the following round mercifully ended this at 1:55 in the fourth.

Skye Nicholson (4-0) stepped into the 4th fight in her 91-day pro career and won against Gabriella Bouvier (15-11-1, 3 KOs), who was a title holder back in the day but was in the ring today for the first time in three years. It looked like it for every second of it for 16 minutes, while Nicholson wasn’t blowing away anyone watching but was more active to anyone paying attention. Referee Chris Jones agreed and scored it 80-72.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

More one-way offense was displayed as Dalton Smith (11-0, 9 KOs) systematically broke down Mauro Perouene (14-6-1, 7 KOs) over six rounds. The referee stopped the contest following a knockdown closing the sixth round, showing a beaten down Perouene with nothing in the tank. That knockdown was set up over the five rounds before it as Smith provided everything but the kitchen sink for Perouene, who didn’t have anything to keep Smith from pressing at will.

Not the most exciting television that aired on the streaming app DAZN, but it did mark a Barry Jones sighting on the broadcast, which we need more of on these cards.