IBO Super-Featherweight World Championship: Anthony Cacace (23-1) v Leigh Wood (28-3) (Saturday, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, live on DAZN, 10pm approx.)
ANTO Cacace fights with the desperate edge of a man who knows what it’s like to be skint and going nowhere. Literally going nowhere because he had no money to put diesel in the car not so long ago.
He left school and served his time as a plasterer and when he became a professional boxer there were promises of big fights and plenty of dough in America, in England and with various coaches and managers at home.
Nothing worked out.
Every training camp cost him money and after he won a fight the phone wouldn’t ring. Nobody wanted to give him a shot.
He lived from hand to mouth, worked as a pizza delivery guy and scratched out a living. He drifted away from boxing, went a full year without a fight and then, just when he’d almost given up… Opportunity knocked.
He wasn’t supposed to beat IBF champion Joe Cordina in Saudi Arabia last year. But he did. Then he beat Josh Warrington – the man who beat Carl Frampton. On Saturday night, it’s Leigh Wood – the man who beat Michael Conlan.
If he wins, the next fight will be huge, says promoter Frank Warren.
Cacace is hungry for more.
“I’ve been skint my whole life,” he says.
“I’ve had nothing. Zero. I got myself deeper in debt every camp up until two fights ago. I spend thousands of other people’s money to get to where I am.
“All these sponsors that have been helping me out: McKinney Construction, Nico’s, That Prize Guy, Cosy Roof, Lennon Estates… They have literally paid for me to get to where I am.
“I’ve got children and a couple of pound would have went to the children and a couple of pound would have went to my camp.
“I’ve been broke for years and, finally, now I’m not and it’s nice.
“I’m no millionaire, but I’ve got a couple of pound. Life’s good and I can’t complain. Life has given me more than I ever thought it would.
“My whole life has been a struggle. I mean I couldn’t afford diesel two years ago to get to the gym, I didn’t have a tenner for diesel. This is what we’re talking about here.
“So, to be sitting with a couple of pound in the bank, going to buy a house soon, never going to have a mortgage… That’s what I got into this game for and I’ve done it by the grace of God because I was never really in touch and distance of it.
“I got an opportunity and I took it.”
There’s a lesson there, says Cacace and it’s a simple one: Never give up. His zero to hero tale is inspirational stuff and he hopes it motivates young people in his native Belfast to follow in his footsteps.
“Keep going, keep going… That’s the lesson,” he says.
“Young kids at home, I see them running around the estate. They’re coming by my door: ‘That’s Anto Cacace’s house, that’s Anto Cacace’s car.’ The love that they show me… I want to inspire these children to never give up on their dreams, never to give up, even if it seems so far-fetched that they’ll never be there.
“You can be so close, but you just don’t realise it. I just want to keep inspiring so let’s keep this journey going, starting Saturday night.”
He says he’s raring to go for his clash with Wood. Since the Cordina fight he’s become more comfortable in the media glare but, as his coach Michael Hawkins says: ‘It’s winner stays on’ at this stage of his career.
One slip and it’s over for him and he’s determined to keep riding this wonderful wave.
“I’m going to knock Leigh out or outbox him in front of his home crowd,” he says.
“If he’s relying on a crowd to pick him up, he’s wrong.
“I’m in Nottingham to beat Leigh Wood and beat him easy but I’m just very aware of what can happen.
“I can see he’s got a dog in him. He knows what the craic is. I know he wants this fight just as much as me so it’s going to be a very, very tough fight.”
Who wins and why?
CACACE is 36, Leigh Wood is 37. They’re both in the latter stages of their careers and one is going to look old and past it on Saturday night. It’s all over for the loser.
Wood is game as the proverbial peacock. Remarkably durable, he hits hard and at his best he carried power right to the finish as he proved with that spectacular last round knockout of Michael Conlan in 2022.
But the Nottingham favourite has been through the mill. He got off the canvas to beat Conlan and since that fight has only fought three times, all in 2023. He lost to Mauricio Lara on home turf, won the rematch and then stopped Josh Warrington. He was cut in all three fights, took a lot of punishment and hasn’t fought since October 2023. That’s a long time out of the ring for a man of his age and it surely has to be a drawback against Cacace who is the man with the momentum.
After 24 fights in almost 15 years as a pro, the Belfast favourite doesn’t have the miles on his clock Wood has and after those life-changing wins against Joe Cordina (IBF title win) and Josh Warrington (IBO title defence) he is on the crest of a wave.
He was brilliant against Cordina and did what he had to against Warrington.
He will need to be better against Wood but he is also the better boxer and has sting in his shots that even someone as durable as Wood needs to respect. Wood is too tough, proud and experienced not to have a say in this but he will struggle to match Cacace’s movement and he can’t take chances with his punching power.
All-in-all, this is Cacace’s fight to lose. He has the tools to box his way to a points win and might even be able to push for a late stoppage victory.
