Joe Cordina will look to make himself a sporting hero in Wales when he faces IBF super featherweight champion Kenichi Ogawa on June 4 live on DAZN (except Australia and New Zealand).
If Cordina emerges victorious, he will become the 13th Welshman to win a world title and will be joining a club which contains some of the sport’s biggest names.
DAZN takes a look at the other 12 men from Wales to achieve world honours in the sport of boxing.
Percy Jones: World flyweight champion, 1914
Percy Jones became Wales’ first world champion when he beat Bill Ladbury for the world flyweight title in 1914.
Jones however only made one successful defence of his title. Problems with the scales meant that Jones never made the flyweight limit since that defence and lost his title outside the ring.
Freddie Welsh: World lightweight champion, 1914-17
Freddie Welsh, also known as the ‘Welsh Wizard’, travelled to the United States of America in 1914 where he beat Willie Ritchie for the lightweight title.
Welsh then went onto to hold the title successfully for three years.
Jimmy Wilde: World flyweight champion, 1916-23
Just like Percy Jones before him, Jimmy Wilde brought the world flyweight title back to Wales.
After taking up the sport at the age of 16 in 1908, Wilde went onto prove he was the world’s best at 106lbs by winning British and European titles, before conquering the USA.
He remained at the top of the division before losing to Pancho Villa in New York in 1923 which was also Wilde’s last fight as a professional.
Howard Winstone: WBC featherweight champion, 1968
A long 45-years had been and gone before Wales had another world champion, and this long wait was brought to an end by Howard Winstone.
After winning gold at the Commonwealth Games, Winstone suffered three losses against the WBA and WBC featherweight champion Vincente Salvidar, but at the fourth time of asking, Winstone claimed the world title he craved when he beat Mitsunori Seki for the vacant WBC title at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1968.
Winstone however lost the title in his first defence, losing to Jose Legra six months later.
Steve Robinson: WBO featherweight champion, 1993-95
The rags to riches story is something that makes boxing a sport like none other, and Steve Robinson’s road to becoming a world champion is a perfect example.
Robinson, who was working in security at a department store, was given the opportunity to fight for a world title at two days’ notice in 1993, and it was something Robinson grabbed with both hands.
Robinson beat John Davison on points to claim the WBO 126lb title and went onto make seven defences before being knocked out by Naseem Hamed in Sheffield in 1995.
That loss didn’t signal the end of Robinson’s career who went onto win a European title in 1999 before retiring in 2002.
Robbie Regan: WBO bantamweight champion, 1996
After failing to beat Alberto Jimenez for the WBO flyweight title in 1995, Robbie Regan’s team decided it was time to move up in weight.
Regan then faced Daniel Jimenez the following year for the WBO bantamweight title and won via unanimous decision.
Unfortunately, this would be Regan’s last fight with his career coming to an abrupt end after being diagnosed with glandular fever. He attempted to make a comeback in 1998, but a failed brain scan forced him into retirement.
Barry Jones: WBO super featherweight champion, 1997
Now one of British boxing’s most respected pundits, Barry Jones also wrote his name into the sport’s history books by becoming Wales’ seventh world champion.
Jones overcame Wilson Palacio in London to claim the vacant WBO super featherweight title, but his reign was cut short after doctors spotted an anomaly in a routine brain scan which resulted in a hiatus from the ring.
Jones was then stripped of his title but did get the chance to win it back at the on January 15, 2000 but was stopped in the eighth round by defending champion Acelino Freitas.
Joe Calzaghe: WBO super middleweight champion 1997-2008, IBF super middleweight champion 2008, WBA and WBC super middleweight champion 2007-08
John Gichigi/Getty images
It’s safe to say Joe Calzaghe is considered one of, if not the greatest Welsh sportsman.
Calzaghe is the longest-reigning champion in the history of the super middleweight division having defended his WBO title 21 times over 11 years.
Calzaghe moved up to the light-heavyweight division after unifying the WBC, WBA and WBO 168lb titles against Mikkel Kessler in Cardiff and bowed out with memorable wins over Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. to finish his career undefeated.
Enzo Maccarinelli: WBO cruiserweight champion, 2006-08
After joining the Newbridge boxing gym, which was run by Joe Calzaghe’s father Enzo Calzaghe, Maccarinelli’s full potential inside the ring was realised.
Maccarinelli was made the full WBO cruiserweight champion after beating Marcelo Fabian Dominguez in an eliminator in 2006 and a fight with Johnny Nelson failing to materialise.
The Swansea man went onto defend his WBO belt four times before losing to David Haye at the O2 Arena in 2008.
Maccarinelli managed to win British and European titles following his loss to Haye, but was unsuccessful in achieving world title success in the light-heavyweight division when he failed to beat Juergen Braehmer in 2014.
Gavin Rees: WBA super lightweight champion, 2007-08
Another product of the Newbridge boxing gym, Gavin Rees shocked the world in 2007 when he beat Souleymane M’Baye by unanimous decision to claim the WBA super lightweight title.
Rees lost the belt in his first defence when he was stopped by Andreas Kotelnik in the 12th round in 2008, but Rees continued to impress.
Under the the watchful eyes of Gary Lockett, Rees won British and European titles at 135lbs, before losing to WBC champion Adrien Broner in 2013.
Nathan Cleverly: WBO light-heavyweight champion, 2011-13
Following in the footsteps of Calzaghe, Nathan Cleverly managed to become a world champion just like his mentor.
After achieving success at British, Commonwealth and European level, Cleverly’s shot at glory came in May 2011 against Aleksy Kuziemski. Cleverly produced an impressive performance that night and stopped his Polish opponent in the fourth round.
Cleverly made four successful defences of his WBO belt, which included a stand-out win over Tony Bellew, before losing to Sergey Kovalev in 2013.
Lee Selby: IBF featherweight champion, 2015-2018
Mark Robinson
Lee Selby, Wales’ most recent world champion, had to plot his road to a world title the traditional way.
Starting off on small hall shows, Selby rose to prominence with little fanfare and won a world title in 2015 with a unanimous TD after IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich was on the wrong end of an accidental head clash and couldn’t continue.
Despite his talent, Selby often struggled to make the 126lb weight limit and eventually lost his world title to British rival Josh Warrington at Elland Road in 2018.