A BELFAST homecoming against WBC super-featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster is the next target for Anto Cacace after his emphatic stoppage victory against Leigh Wood on Saturday night.
After four competitive rounds at the Motorpoint Arena, Cacace changed tactics from mixing it to working behind a ramrod jab and that took the sting out of his opponent and the Nottingham crowd.
Wood, who was getting soundly out-boxed, was forced to take risks against ‘The Apache’ who showcased his punching power with a crunching left hook early in the ninth.
Perfectly timed, the shot swung the fight his way and Wood never recovered. A follow-up drove him into the ropes and he took a count. A body-head combination from Cacace sent him reeling across the ring and ‘Leigh-thal’ was running for cover with Cacace in hot pursuit when Ben Davidson rightly threw in the towel to save his fighter from unnecessary punishment.
The victory adds another chapter to the incredible run of success 36-year-old Cacace is enjoying. The scalps of three two-time world champions – Joe Cordina, Josh Warrington and now Wood – have sent his stock through the roof and another massive fight against Foster is already in the works.
“What… a press conference for me?” asked a delighted Cacace as he was ushered into the room to face media on Saturday night.
All this success and all this attention is still new to him.
“I’m at the stage now where I’m literally top of the tree,” said Cacace.
“I’ve disposed of all the top featherweights and super-featherweights in Britain. There’s nobody else, literally nobody else.
“So, we’re bringing it back to Belfast. I’m doing something before I hang up the gloves, winning the WBC title in front of my home crowd, which I’m very capable of doing, would be unbelievable.
“One thing that needs to be done is that I get to name the top fighters on the undercard because I believe it’s just my job now to try to give the up-and-coming talent the platform to perform on.
“There’s Barry McReynolds from my gym (Holy Trinity), who’s going to be signing with Queensbury very soon and we’re going to start him off.”
Before any more training, Cacace will have a long-awaited and richly-deserved break with his family. He thanked them for their patience and understanding and did the same with his close-knit team that includes Michael Hawkins senior and junior, Barry O’Neill and Ruairi Dalton.
“I’ll be 37 in February,” said Cacace.
“It’s old in terms of boxing and my weight but I keep knocking them over. I can’t just stop now, can I? I’ll have to keep going. I don’t have many miles on the clock.
“I suppose that’s a blessing in disguise. I’ve had a load of years where people didn’t recognise me or didn’t want to give me the chance.
“I’m from Ireland and this is British boxing. I’m not too sure where it goes about that, but I feel like sometimes the Irish are snubbed off a wee bit. I met Simon (Pegg his manager) and I started working with Frank Warren and Simon made sure that we were given the opportunities.
“I just appreciate everything. I appreciate where I’m sitting now. I appreciate all the media sitting around me now. It’s just weird but it’s class and I enjoy it.”
Where do his achievements over the last year rank in Irish boxing? Right up there with the best is the answer. Three victories, all against reigning or former world champions and all away from home… Mighty impressive stuff from the road warrior.
“I’m up there now, aren’t I?” said Cacace.
“I have to be. These guys are legends in their own right - Leigh Wood, Josh Warrington, Joe Cordina…
“I have to be up there in terms of one of the best Irish boxers and it’s so great to be able to say that. It’s insane, it really is insane.
“It’s like things that I dreamt of, things I thought were impossible to do, genuinely impossible to do and I’m sitting here now… It’s crazy.”
As he spoke his coach, Belfast boxing guru Michael Hawkins senior interjected: “You’re special Anto, you’re special”.
“I’m buzzing,” replied Cacace with a beaming smile.
“I’m super proud of myself. I’ve done things that I genuinely thought I couldn’t. It’s crazy and I’m relying on these men here to tell me that I can’t do it.
“I’m relying on Ruairi Dalton to tell me that I’m the best in the world, Barry to tell me that I’m special, because it does make me feel special. I’m like a princess!
“The team have picked me up this whole time. It’s been a hard, tough camp and the boys have got me through it, and everyone’s got me through it.”
Round-by-round...
Round One
Wood started confidently and made the early running behind his jab. Cacace missed with a couple of big left hands and a swipe with his right but seconds from the bell he shuffled in and speared a left hand through Wood’s guard. He felt that.
Round two
A right hook pings off Wood’s head and he takes a left as well as Cacace moves in. Round ends with another Cacace flurry but he took a left hand at the bell. Hard to split them so far.
Round three
Angles from Cacace. Steps in and whips a right hand uppercut through Wood’s guard and follows it up with a left hand. Wood not looking troubled and fires back. The home favourite roared on by crowd had his moments too.
Round four
Good round for Wood. He kept the pressure on Cacace and got out of range before the Belfast man could counter. Cacace is in a proper fight here.
Round five
Cacace patient, spearing out the jab and looking to set up his attacks. But Wood is boxing well and the Apache hasn’t been able to pin him down.
Round six
Good round for Cacace. Boxing well, he has settled down and landing the jab as Wood comes forward. At the halfway point there’s nothing between them.
Round seven
Is Cacace going to jab his way to victory? He’s taken the sting out of the fight. Sitting back and firing off the jab when Wood gets into range. Switching stance too. Wood can change the fight with one shot.
Round eight
Cacace taking control here. Picking off Wood with the jab as the Nottingham brawler tries to close the distance. He’s forcing Wood to take risks to land his shots and he has silenced the home crowd.
Round nine
All over. A left hook shook Wood to the core – you could see how it sickened him to his stomach when it landed. He stayed on his feet and tried to fight back but another clean shot from Cacace sent him staggering into the ropes. He took a count. Looked out on his feet and Cacace hammered him with a left to the body and another to the head. Ben Davidson right to throw in the towel and save him from further punishment.
KURT Walker was bitterly disappointed to lose to Liam Davies in their IBF International Featherweight rumble on Saturday night.
Walker took the fight to Davies at every opportunity but the former super-bantamweight champion was the winner on all three scorecards at a raucous Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.
Victory would have been massive for Walker but there were a lot of positives in defeat for the Lisburn native. He showed off slick boxing skills and there was courage and an appetite for a battle that will have won him more fans.
“Hopefully I can learn from this,” said Walker afterwards.
“I’m alright. I was a bit devastated after I heard the result but it’s a fight and 12 rounds… I learned a lot. I’ll bounce back.
“Experience let me down.
“The start wasn’t working but I was able to change, not many people can do that, so I’ve done my first 12 rounds.
“Maybe I was pacing it wrong at the start and just doing the wrong things at the wrong time and that just let me down.”
He did start conservatively. It seemed he needed to get a round under his belt to settle and, going forward, he’ll hope to add some early tempo to his gameplan. However, there was nothing wrong with his engine and he finished strongly against a very capable operator in Davies - there are shades of Anto Cacace in the spite the Englishman put on his punches.
Walker doesn’t have that sort of box office power but he is a very talented boxer and has now left the amateur style behind and become a professional prizefighter over his last three contests.
“12 rounds is hard,” Walker added.
“Davies was good, he was simple, but good with his long arms. I thought I’d be able to deal with it on the boxing side, but he’s done very well.
“He was far better than his last defeat, because he didn’t fall for the same mistakes, but it’s a fight I learned from and I thought it was close.”
