Joe Cordina is stepping into the ring with more than just a title shot on the line—he's chasing a piece of Welsh boxing history. When the former super-featherweight world champion faces WBO lightweight king Abdullah Mason this July, he'll be living out a dream that traces straight back to the legendary Joe Calzaghe.

Cordina admits his original plan was to follow Calzaghe's path through the bright lights of Las Vegas and New York, where the unbeaten Welsh icon defeated Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. in two of British boxing's most memorable American nights. Instead, the 34-year-old will travel to Cleveland on Independence Day for a hometown showdown with the 22-year-old Mason, the youngest world champion in the sport today.

"I've achieved everything I've wanted to achieve," Cordina told BBC Radio Wales. "I've still got ambition of being a world champion, but I've always wanted to have a big fight in America against a big name. At this present moment, Abdullah Mason is a massive name. It's a massive test, but it's one I'm more than capable of."

The venue may not be the Thomas & Mack Center or Madison Square Garden, but the stakes are just as high. Cordina knows that fighting a young champion on his own turf is the kind of challenge that defines a career. "It is what it is," he said of the Cleveland location. "But it's one of those nights. To follow in the footsteps of Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton, Carl Froch, and so many others—it's a massive achievement for me. I'm over the moon to get it over the line, and I'm looking to come and get the job done."

If Cordina can do exactly that at the CSU Wolstein Centre in July, he'll not only claim a second world title in a different weight class—he'll write his own chapter in the proud tradition of Welsh fighters conquering America.