Former junior lightweight titleholder Joe Cordina has positioned himself for another world title shot.

Cordina, a 34-year-old from Cardiff, Wales, traveled to Flores’ backyard in Stockton, California, on Saturday and soundly beat him for a unanimous decision win at Adventist Health Arena.

Judges scored the contest 117-110, 115-112 and 114-113 in favor of Cordina, but those were much closer than what the action showed inside the ring.

Cordina outboxed and outlanded Flores in every round, according to CompuBox, compiling a total advantage of 199 out of 646 punches compared with 102 out of 496 from Flores. Cordina applied pressure and landed the more eye-catching shots by craftily walking down Flores with a crisp and clean jab and dedicated combinations to the body; Flores found it difficult to control the relentless rhythm.

Cordina was docked a point in the sixth round for rabbit punching, but the foul didn’t factor into the decision during a clash that took place on Matchroom Boxing's card headlined by Diego Pacheco and Kevin Lele Sadjo.

“I got the win, but it wasn't exactly the way I wanted to do it,” said Cordina. “You can't come in and nick a fight off of me. I kept applying pressure and forced him to the ropes, and he couldn't keep up with the pace.”

With the win, Cordina (19-1, 9 KOs) should emerge as the new WBO No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger for the recently crowned champion, Abdullah Mason. Flores (27-3, 8 KOs), meanwhile, again fell short for the third time while stepping up his class in competition.

Coming into the clash, Cordina and Flores shared a combined 39 percent career knockout ratio, but it was the former who earned respect with his power, especially in the championship rounds after a fairly even first six rounds.

In the seventh, Flores rocked Cordina with an uppercut that buckled his knees and forced him to back up. It was arguably his best moment of the fight.

Flores had never fought past the 10th round and it showed as he started gassing. Cordina outlanded him 23-9 in the 10th.

In the 11th, Cordina rocked Flores with a flush right hand and forced him to fight the final 45 seconds out on his feet, hopelessly trying to hold on. Cordina landed a fight-high 36 shots in the round.

Flores needed a miracle knockout in the 12th round to get a win that was never close to being available. Flores’ other losses came against Luis Alberto Lopez in 2021 and Giovanni Cabrera in 2022.

Cordina was an IBF 130-pound champion who defended the title twice before a TKO loss to Anthony Cacace in July 2024. He made his 135-pound debut earlier this year.