Joe Cordina moved a step closer to fulfilling his ambition of becoming a two-weight world champion after outclassing Gabriel Flores Jr to secure a unanimous points victory in California.
The Welshman dominated much of the lightweight final eliminator at the Adventist Health Arena in Stockton, with judges scoring the bout 117-110, 115-112 and 114-113 in his favour.
Former IBF super-featherweight world champion Cordina controlled the contest with his movement and accuracy, regularly backing Flores towards the ropes and dictating the tempo. Although docked a point in the sixth round for rabbit punching, the 34-year-old appeared more comfortable throughout than the scorecards suggested.
“I got the win, but it wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to do it,” Cordina said afterwards. “I kept applying pressure and forced him back. He couldn’t live with the pace.”
The fight was billed as a final eliminator for the WBO lightweight title, currently held by Abdullah Mason following his dramatic win over Sam Noakes in November. Cordina is now expected to become the WBO’s number one contender and mandatory challenger.
The victory marks Cordina’s second success at lightweight since moving up from 130lb. He returned from a 14-month absence in July with a points win over Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz to claim the vacant WBO global lightweight title.
Flores briefly troubled Cordina in the seventh round with an uppercut that buckled his knees, but the American was unable to build on the moment and saw his six-fight winning run end.
Cordina improves his professional record to 19 wins and one defeat, with nine knockouts, while Flores slips to 27-3. The Cardiff-born boxer’s only loss came against Anthony Cacace in May 2024, when he surrendered his super-featherweight world title.
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