5v5 precursor win – Eddie Hearn suggests Anthony Cacace may freeze as he backs Cordina to make a statement
Eddie Hearn is confident Joe Cordina will score a 5v5 precursor blow for Matchroom by defeating Anthony Cacace in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Belfast’s Cacace challenges the ‘Welsh Wizard’ for the IBF super featherweight on the undercard of the undisputed heavyweight title affair between WBC titleholder Tyson Fury and unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Hearn says its a match-up that was explored when the pair were at European title level and a fight that would have been on the Matchroom v Queensberry 5 v 5 card if it wasn’t playing out this weekend.
Yet- while it’s not on the promoter versus promoter bill, Hearn still sees it as a chance for Matchroom to get one over on Queensberry.
“It’s a beautiful warm-up for the Matchroom versus Queensberry in the five v five,” he said.
“Physicoligcally we want to deliver this blow, right to the heart, and see Joe Cordina come through.”
Cordina has a lot more to come through before he gets in the ring these days, making the 130lbs super featherweight limit all the more taxing as he gets older.
With that in mind, the Matchroom boss points out that the fact the world title fight was pushed back from February 17 to May 18 has proved beneficial for the champion.
The Essex fight maker believes the extra time to prepare means Cordina won’t just win but will come away with a statement victory.
“The struggle for Joe at the minute is doing the weight, so that extra time in camp has been brilliant for him. He looks in great shape. He’s been out here for two weeks, running in that heat with Tony Sims and I think you are going to get a brilliant performance from Joe Cordina. It’s a tough fight but I think we’ll see a real statement performance from Joe on Saturday night,”he adds before suggesting the stage might be too big for the Belfast side of the world title fight.
“Joe Crodina made a good point recently, he’s no stranger to the big stage. He will not freeze on Saturday night, Cacace is more likely to freeze out there. You will get the best Joe Cordina.”
