Joe Cordina charged with assault after visa denial

Welsh boxer Joe Cordina has been charged with assault and threatening a person with an offensive weapon, authorities announced Thursday, compounding the former world champion's recent withdrawal from a major title fight due to a denied U.S. visa.

South Wales Police stated the charges stem from an incident outside the Pentwyn Service Station in Cardiff on February 27. Cordina, 34, is scheduled to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on July 7. Another man, Jamie O’Brien, 32, has been charged with assault in connection with the same incident and is due in court on July 28.

The charges were revealed one day after Cordina confirmed his planned July 4 challenge for the WBO lightweight title against champion Abdullah Mason in Cleveland, Ohio, had been canceled. In a social media post on Wednesday, Cordina said he was denied a visa during a visit to the U.S. Embassy in London earlier this week.

"I tried to explain certain things, and I had all the paperwork to back it up, and they wasn’t having it," Cordina stated. "They basically told me, ‘You ain’t getting in.’" He added that he was "absolutely gutted" to miss the opportunity to become a three-time world champion and capture a title...