Fri. Nov 22nd, 2024
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Joe Cordina
Joe Cordina won bronze representing Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Joe Cordina says it is “disgusting” that boxing’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics is in doubt.

IBF super-featherweight world title holder Cordina, 31, insists fighters depend on the Games to help turn them into superstars.

No decision has been taken on boxing’s involvement in Los Angeles 2028.

It follows a dispute over the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) governance and alleged corruption.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew its recognition of the IBA’s Olympic authority status, but Cordina hopes a solution can be found.

“I think it’s disgusting that they’re [potentially] taking it out,” said Cordina.

“A lot of fighters depend on getting to an Olympics to give them their head start in professional boxing.”

The Welsh boxer competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro before making his professional debut as a super-featherweight in 2017.

“It’s definitely what helped me grow as a fighter,” said Cordina in an interview with BBC Radio Wales Sport.

“If I didn’t push on to go to the Olympics and go to all these tournaments in between, I wouldn’t be where I am because I wouldn’t have had that experience.

“This [the Olympics] is where you determine who are the best fighters in the world when they’re turning pro.

“Going back to your Mayweathers, your Cottos, Sugar Ray Leonards, Roy Jones Jrs – I could go on and on and on.

“All these fighters, the best fighters on the planet, have been to an Olympic Games.

“They excel because they’ve had that experience, they’ve been to the top, they’ve been fighting the best of the best in the world, month in, month out.

“They go to all these tournaments, gaining all that experience, but you will have a lot of people turning pro very, very young and not gaining the experience.”

The IBA – previously known as AIBA – appealed against the IOC’s decision over its Olympic status and there will be a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 16 November.

Great Britain and other nations left the IBA in April, joining breakaway federation World Boxing, over concern for the sport’s Olympic future after next year’s Paris Games.

Cordina said: “After 2024, because everyone is going to turn pro, it’s going to take a long time before you see superstars in the sport unless [it is] the Americans and the Mexicans – they always turn pro very early.

“For the likes of myself and British fighters, trying to get to an Olympic Games, and all the experience that you gain leading up to it, that’s what helps grow you as a fighter.

“I don’t want to disrespect any other sport, and I’m not going to name any other sport, but I’ve seen some sports that have been added and it’s absolutely disgusting if you ask me.”

Cordina is preparing to defend his IBF super-featherweight world title against American Edward Vazquez in Monte Carlo on Saturday, 4 November.

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