GAVIN Gwynne defended his British lightweight belt with a one-sided win against Craig Woodruff at Cardiff International Arena.
The 32-year-old from Treharris, who is trained by St Joseph's Boxing Club legend Tony Borg, stopped the Newport fighter in the fifth round.
The pair had drawn in Bolton last September but this time Gwynne (16-2-1) was in control throughout and finished the job early.
Case closed 🤝@gavin1gwynne stops Craig Woodruff in the fifth to defend his British Lightweight Title in the rematch 🇬🇧👑#GwynneWoodruff2 #RakhimovCordina pic.twitter.com/QFb3uIBsw4
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) April 22, 2023
Joe Cordina regained the IBF super-featherweight title with a thrilling split decision win over Shavkat Rakhimov.
Cordina, 31, stripped of the belt due to injury last year, became the first Welsh boxer to become a two-time world champion, but was made to dig deep in a classic encounter in front of his home fans.
One of the judges’ score cards had Rakhimov as a 116-111 winner, while two others gave Cordina the verdict with scores of 115-112 and 114-113 in his favour.
Now undefeated in 16 professional fights, Cordina sent Rakhimov to the canvas in the second round and after being hurt badly himself in the fifth, produced a rousing finish in the final round to edge a classic.
Tajikistan’s Rakhimov, 28, who had won 17 and drawn one of his previous 18 fights, was unrelenting despite fighting with a closed right eye from the sixth round.
The champion threw a greater quantity of punches in his first title defence since winning the belt by stopping Manchester’s Zelfa Barrett last November, but Cordina produced more accurate, quality shots.
Cordina, now undefeated in 16 professional fights, first won the title in Cardiff in June last year when knocking out Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa at the Motorpoint Arena in the second round.
He was scheduled to defend his title against mandatory IBF challenger Rakhimov in November, but was forced to pull out due to a hand injury and was subsequently stripped of his belt.
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