Codrington draws inspiration from Broadway Boxing alum

Moments after he walked through Carl Cockerham for his seventh straight win, Jaidon Codrington hoped he was looking into a spitting image of his future.
At that time, Paulie Malignaggi, formerly a Broadway Boxing fixture, where Codrington now competes,, was introduced in the center of the ring as the new IBF light welterweight champion to a thunderous ovation.
“It shows me I can do anything I want to do in boxing,” he said. “It gives me a lot of inspiration. A lot of people counted him out, too.”
Not that ‘The Don’ has been completely forgotten, but at one time he was considered one of the sport’s rising prospects. Then, November 4, 2005, he was brutally knocked out by Allan Green in a mere 18 seconds. Like Codrington, Malignaggi was stopped by Miguel Cotto last June for the WBO light welterweight title before coming back recently to best Lovemore N’Dou for his first crown.
Codrington (16-1, 12 KOs) took seven months off following the Green fight. Since then, he has fought seven times over the past year, and appears poised for another challenge - much like the one against Green. “It’s about that time for me to put up or shut up,” he said. “When you get to that 15, 16, 17 [fight] mark, that’s when it starts happening.”
He was prepared to take a major step up in competition on this night. Not only was he headlining Broadway Boxing’s main event, but the Jamaica product was to be facing the well-traveled Omar Sheika, a veteran with bouts against former champion Jeff Lacy and current champ Joe Calzaghe. However, when Sheika (26-8, 17 KOs) failed to make weight, Codrington found himself again facing a lesser opponent he would not get many rounds out of.
“It would’ve been a huge step up,” said Codrington, ranked No. 14 in the super middleweight division. “[A win against Sheika] would’ve put me in the top 10.”
Codrington was impressive nonetheless, stopping Cockerham (12-13-3) in the second round of his six-round super middleweight bout. “He started a little bit quicker than he usually does,” his trainer, Andre Rozier, said. “He was rolling his combinations and he looked really sharp doing it.”
“He’s ready to step up,” Rozier later added. “We’re going to keep advancing.”