Venue: Cardiff International Arena Date: Saturday, 22 April |
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live from 22:00 BST and follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app from 21:00 BST |
Joe Cordina and Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov both made weight for their IBF super-featherweight title fight on Saturday in Cardiff.
Undefeated Cordina, 31, aims to reclaim the title he was stripped of because of injury in front of his home fans.
Cordina weighed 9st 3lbs and reigning champion Rakhimov was only slightly heavier by a few ounces.
Englishwoman Sandy Ryan also made weight for her WBO welterweight title fight against Marie-Pier Houle.
Ryan, 29, fights in her first world championship bout against the unbeaten 32-year-old Canadian.
Welsh boxing legend Joe Calzaghe was on stage at the weigh-in at Cardiff’s City Hall to welcome Cordina to the scales.
There was a quick hug between the pair, before a relaxed Cordina weighed in.
A terrible hand injury forced Cordina to give up last year which allowed mandatory challenger Rakhimov to fight Manchester’s Zelfa Barrett for the belt in Abu Dhabi last November.
The 28-year-old from Tajikistan was far more animated on the scales as he let out a scream, with his trainer and legendary coach Freddie Roach beside him.
Both fighters appeared gaunt in the face from their weight cuts, but there was a wide-eyed, intense final face-off.
Wales’ Cordina knocked out Kenichi Ogawa in spectacular fashion to win the IBF title in his last outing on home soil.
The super-featherweight is unbeaten in 15 pro fights, while the only blemish on Rakhimov’s 18-fight record is a draw with Joseph Diaz in 2021.