Joe Cordina believes #1 Sam Noakes will defeat #2 Abdullah Mason when they battle for the vacant WBO lightweight title next. The World Boxing Organization has ordered Mason (19-0, 17 KOs) and Noakes (17-0, 15 KOs) to begin negotiations to fight for the title that they stripped from Keyshawn Davis last week for missing weight.

Cordina’s Noakes Upset Prediction

Mason is seen as a future star at 135 and is expected to make easy work of the inexperienced Noakes. For Cordina to be correct with his prediction, Noakes would have to be a lot better fighter than fans view him as.

The former IBF super featherweight champion Cordnia (17-1, 9 KOs) wants to fight Noakes if he gets his hands on the WBO lightweight title. Joe, 33, missed out on a fight with WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson last October when the New Jersey native suffered a hand injury, forcing him to pull out.

That would have been Cordina’s chance to rebuild his career following an eighth-round TKO defeat against Anthony Cacace last year in May 2024. Cordina will be fighting next month against Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz (17-1, 13 KOs) in a 10-rounder on July 5th at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

“Now that he’s fighting for a world title, I believe he can likely win that quite comfortably as well if he gets his tactics right on the night,” said Joe Cordina to Boxing News about his belief that Sam Noakes can defeat Abdullah Mason when they fight for the vacant WBO lightweight strap. “Then, that’ll be a massive fight for Britain as it’s for a world title.”

Noakes: Mason’s Easy Opponent

Cordina’s prediction of Noakes defeating Mason “comfortably” sounds wacky, and doesn’t make any sense. On paper, this is an early knockout win for Mason within four rounds. At best, Noakes will make it to the sixth if Abdullah fights conservatively like he did in his last fight againt the power-punching veteran Jeremia Nakathila on June 7th. Mason stopped him in six rounds. He had to take his time with Nakathila because he’s got power on the level of anyone in the division. Noakes is too limited defensively to last as long as Nakathila.

“Obviously, I’ve got to do my job first and foremost in three weeks’ time [against Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz on July 5th],” said Cordina. “Yeah, that could be a big UK fight [against Noakes]. He’s got to do his bit and I’ve got to do my bit,” said Cordina when asked about his interest in potentially facing Noakes for the WBO lightweight title on a 5 v 5 card.”

As inactive as Cordina has been, it wouldn’t be a shock if Quiroz defeats him next month, because Joe is coming off a 14-month layoff after his knockout loss to Cacace. Moreover, Cordina is about to turn 34, and he’s not a spring chicken anymore. The age and the mileage on his odometer from his grueling fights against Cacace, Edward Vazquez, and Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov will have taken too much out of him. Those were Cordina’s last three fights.

Cordina’s “Clouds” of Reality

“It’s fantasy at the moment. They [Noakes and Mason] haven’t come to an agreement that they’re fighting yet. We don’t know how long before that fight is going to happen. So, I might have two fights by then,” said Cordina.

It sounds like Cordina is living in the clouds, dreaming of a make-believe situation that has no chance of happening. The reality is that Noakes will likely lose badly to Abdullah Mason in a blowout defeat, and Cordina will get knocked out by the 24-year-old Mexican fighter Quiroz. His career will be in the mud, and there will be nothing he can do to pull himself out of it. Cordina isn’t seeing things for what they really are.