Former boxing world champion Joe Cordina has been cleared of assaulting a man he punched outside a petrol station.

The incident outside a garage in Pentwyn, Cardiff, in February led to the 34-year-old being denied entry to the US for a WBO lightweight title clash.

District Judge Charlotte Murphy found Cordina not guilty of assault by beating against Jamie O’Brien, 33, following a trial at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court.

She said she was “satisfied” Cordina believed it was necessary to use force to defend himself.

“I am further satisfied that a single, measured, controlled punch was proportionate in the circumstances,” she said.

“It is very easy to consider the defendant’s response by considering the CCTV in slow motion, however the defendant had a split second to consider his response to the shoulder barge.”

Cordina had been filling up his Land Rover before he approached O’Brien, who had been sitting on the pavement near the petrol station exit.

CCTV footage showed O’Brien pushing Cordina using his shoulder, before the two-time IBF super-featherweight champion punched him with sufficient force to knock him to the ground.

The pair continued to “remonstrate” with one another and exchange blows.

O’Brien, from Pentwyn, previously pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating.

Police began to investigate the incident after footage of the altercation was circulated online.

Anthony Joshua is preparing for his long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury and will have Ben Davison by his side after reuniting to his former trainer.

When asked on his thoughts, Lennox Lewis gave an honest verdict on AJ’s decision to team up with Davison once again.

Davison trained Fury for five professional bouts after ‘The Gypsy King’ made his comeback in 2018, including in an iconic draw with Deontay Wilder which many felt Fury had done enough to win.

Since then, Davison was surprisingly appointed as Joshua’s trainer for what turned out to be another five-fight run, with a damning IBF title defeat to Daniel Dubois in 2024 encouraging ‘AJ’ to make the switch to Team Usyk, where Iegor Golub acted as his cornerman.

Now, after being re-appointed as Joshua’s trainer, Davison is hoping to shake off his unwanted record of zero wins in five career heavyweight world title bouts as a trainer, with three of those losses coming this year when being in the corner for Fabio Wardley and Moses Itauma.

Speaking with Playbook BoxingLennox Lewis said Davison ‘is a good choice’ for Joshua, as he attempts to overcome Fury and capture the vacant WBA (Super) heavyweight title to become a three-time heavyweight world champion.

“I think that it is a good choice because Ben Davison has trained Tyson Fury for a little bit. He also knows Anthony Joshua and he also is a good man in the corner for Anthony Joshua because of how he speaks, he gives you confidence and that is what Anthony Joshua needs.

“He needs a guy in there telling him some good stuff to make him react.”

Fury-Joshua will take place on Friday, December 11, at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, with details regarding the undercard expected imminently.

Jack Catterall finds himself waiting on the sidelines while his pursuit of Teofimo Lopez hangs in the air. With Thursday’s negotiation deadline closing in fast, the WBA regular welterweight titleholder admitted publicly that his career is paused.

Addressing questions on social media about potentially taking on Shakur StevensonCatterall made it clear he intends to give the public what they want once his immediate path clears up. Still, he stopped short of promising that Lopez would be standing across from him next.

“My career is currently on hold but in the next week or so it’ll be resolved and will promise you all I’ll fight whoever the fans want me to fight,” Catterall shared on X.

The clock started ticking on September 22, when the sanctioning body ordered Lopez to defend against Catterall, setting an October 22 cutoff. Lopez took on that mandatory requirement back in August after dethroning Rolando Romero for the Super championship.

Thursday does not mark an automatic verdict from the sanctioning body, though. Letting the date expire without a deal merely hands the decision back to the committee. It will not immediately strip Teofimo, nor does it guarantee an overnight elevation for Catterall.

Word is that Teofimo’s side wants an exemption so they can target a massive unification clash with Ryan Garcia instead. That puts Catterall in a tough spot, waiting to see if his mandatory status actually lands him the marquee name or just sparks another sanctioning headache.

Catterall did the heavy lifting inside the ropes back in May, picking up the secondary strap with a win over Shakhram Giyasov. He handled his business in the ring, but right now the business side is calling the shots.

The split title system creates a mess if Teofimo refuses to engage. Stripping the champion and elevating Catterall to the top spot is certainly on the table, yet the organization hasn’t committed to that route.

Picking up the Super belt via an email upgrade would look nice on his resume, but it robs Catterall of the statement win and the massive check that comes with beating Teofimo in the ring. Handing him the title on paper simply leaves him searching for another dance partner anyway.

His talk about fighting whoever fans pick came up during a back-and-forth about Stevenson, which means he hasn’t officially walked away from chasing Teofimo. The bigger takeaway is that Catterall still cannot lock in a date with anyone.

Catterall sounds less than confident that he’ll get the Teofimo fight. The moment a fighter publicly admits their career is on hold and starts asking the public who they should fight, it sounds like an admission of defeat before the deadline even arrives. Catterallsounds resigned to being bypassed, left holding an upgraded paper title with no marquee scalp to show for it.