Cordova earns respect despite first loss in ring

Clearfield junior middleweight pro Eddie Cordova, after logging four local wins, took a giant step up in class on March 16 in Indio, Calif., when he fought one of the hottest prospects in the world, Alfonso Blanco, 7-0. The Venezuelan is a former Olympian and captured a silver medal in the world amateur boxing championships.

 

 

In several local outings, Cordova has shown good boxing skills and overall ring generalship to dominate similar regional prospects. He’s moved past the "local hero" stage of his career.

It’d be nice, almost like a "Rocky" movie, to say that Cordova upset Blanco. But life isn’t a movie. Cordova fought hard against Blanco, and landed his share of shots, but the former amateur star wore Eddie down to score a fifth-round TKO.

"It was tough. He was tall and had a long, long reach," Cordova said describing the fight.

Talking about the stoppage in the fifth round, he’s candid. "He hit me with a good shot. ... It was a huge jump from fighting local ... fighters to fighting the world’s best."

Despite the loss, however, Cordova will likely come out ahead. After the fight, promoter and ring legend Oscar De La Hoya congratulated Cordova on his good effort.

And Golden Boy Promotions has signaled that they’d like to have Cordova come back and fight on a future card.

Former pro boxer, and current mixed martial arts pro, Dave Foley, correctly assessed that losing to a top fighter such as Blanco is far better than merely logging another win over a mediocre professional. In defeat, Cordova likely upped his boxing skills more than he had in his previous fights combined.

As mentioned, Cordova has been around the ring most of his life. His grandpa, Edward Cordova, 90 and a World War II veteran, was a fighter. His uncles were fighters.

Other relatives, including his Aunt Sabrina, are fight judges.

Although he seeks advice from a lot of colleagues and mentors, one man that’s played a big part in Eddie’s boxing life is Top of Utah resident Lawrence Lobato, who has spent a lot of time helping Eddie learn the sport in the gyms.

In fact, Cordova recalls an important life lesson that Lobato taught him at age 16.

"I challenged (Lobato)," Cordova said. He was kidding, but Lobato made him back up his boast. "He put me in the ring. He whipped me. He almost knocked me out."

His brash words, and subsequent lesson learned, helped teach Cordova to always be in top condition when stepping into the ring. "If you’re not in condition, don’t come out and fight," he says.

He keeps in shape, always training, ready for a call to fight, such as the Blanco fight, when he fought on a few days notice.

When he has time to train long-term for a fight, for several weeks he’ll be up before dawn running, doing crunches, dieting and spending long hours in the gym sparring and conditioning.

Eventually, Cordova hopes to become a boxing promoter. Although he’s eager to see any opportunity he can as a pro, he may end his career as early a year from now. His biggest fans are his wife, Dana, his children, pre-teens Gabrial and Dimitri. He trains an amateur boxer, 170-pounder Alex Vincent.

Eddie sees boxing as a way to promote good behavior. That’s why he wants to stay connected with the sport many years as a boxer, trainer, promoter, etc.

"It doesn’t have to be Eddie Cordova in the spotlight. (Boxing) is a way of life. I box because it’s in me," he adds.

 

Cordova, already old for a boxer at 33, had little amateur experience although he’s literally grown up in boxing gyms. He did match Blanco in confidence, however.