ST JOSEPH’S boxer Joe Cordina is certain that the Commonwealth Games will be the event that makes his name, writes Andrew Penman.

The 22-year-old from Cardiff has not enjoyed the same media profile as his St Joes training mates Sean McGoldrick and Andrew Selby or Fred Evans, who used to train with Tony Borg at the city gym.

But Cordina is aiming to change that by winning gold in Glasgow next month.

“It’s the closest thing we’re going to get to a home Games probably and I can’t wait to put on a show in Glasgow,” said Cordina.

“It’s where every amateur boxer wants to be and I’m relishing it.

“I’ve boxed at world championships and this is another step in my career so I want to win a medal and show people what I can do in the ring.

“And there is no other medal I want except gold,” he added. “That is my aim and I know I can do it.

“I’ve boxed numbers one, two and three in the world over the last 12 months and they’ve all been very close fights.

“I know it will be tough but it’s looking bright for me.”

A talented sportsman who played football and rugby at school, Cordina took up boxing at the age of 15 to improve his fitness.

He is now a three-time Welsh ABA champion and has been a member of the GB Boxing squad since 2010. He was promoted to the Podium squad in 2011.

Cordina won bronze at the European under-23 championship in 2012 and went on to compete at the 2013 World Championships.

He won medals at the 2011 and 2012 Tammer tournaments in Finland, coming away with gold and silver respectively.

And he was part of the British Lionhearts team alongside Evans, Selby and McGoldrick that competed in the 2012-13 season of the World Series of Boxing.

“There’s three of us in the team from St Joes and that is really good because we’re pretty close,” he said.

“We train together here in Wales and in Sheffield and it helps us as a group.

“As a team we’re going out to show what a good team we are and as an amateur boxer it doesn’t get bigger than the Olympics and the Commonwealths Games.”