JOSH Warrington has come through some hammer-and-tongs wars in the past and he believes he can stand and trade with Anthony Cacace on Saturday night.
Warrington has shown his fighting heart over and over again in the past and refuses to believe that Belfast’s mid-mannered super-featherweight champion has more dope than the likes of Carl Frampton, Luis Lopez or Leigh Wood.
“I can come forward and I can mix it with anybody,” said the Leeds Warrior.
“He’s no stronger puncher than any other man that I’ve been in with.”
Barry O’Neill would tell him different. After thunderous pad sessions when Cacace rips in hooks off his left and right, O’Neill sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night with sore arms.
Cacace has freakish power, says experienced coach O’Neill.
“The past couple of camps, I’ve never felt anyone hit as hard as Anthony hits,” he said.
“His power is phenomenal, it’s just special, it’s that type of power that you either have or you don’t – you can’t learn it. There’s a lot of natural talent there and he’s just a natural, powerful, hard, hard, hard man.
“He hits so hard and I think Warrington will be surprised when he feels it on Saturday night.”
Cacace’s record – eight stoppage wins in 23 fights – doesn’t scream ‘puncher’ but O’Neill says his success against then IBF champion Joe Cordina in May has reinforced his belief that he can get on the front foot and go out and dominate opponents.
“He doesn’t always look for the big shot,” said O’Neill.
“Go back to the last fight against Cordina and he was a bit more on the front foot. He got a bit of momentum and he ran with it and, really, he gave Cordina a bit of a beating to be honest.
“I think he believes more in his power, he knows he can go forward and hurt opponents more so we might see a bit more of that on Saturday night.”
O’Neill doubts that Warrington can handle Cacace’s power but the Belfast southpaw has to hit him first and the ‘Leeds Warrior’ has produced the unexpected before. One thing is for sure, the Cacace camp won’t underestimate the man in the other corner.
“Warrington has moved up in weight and he might feel better at the weight but we feel that Anthony is still going to be too much for him,” O’Neill explained.
“He hits too hard, he’s too big, he’s too strong and he’s more than ready for it. It’s hard to see anything other than a Cacace win.
“It’s his fight to lose but of course it’s boxing and plenty has happened in the past – there has been plenty of upsets over the years. We’re not writing Warrington off, no way, but we’re confident of getting the victory and if it’s a scrappy points win over 12 rounds we’ll be delighted with that.”
Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) top the bill at Wembley when they collide for the IBF Heavyweight World Title.
Also on the undercard, Birmingham’s Tyler Denny (19-2-3) defends his EBU European middleweight title against Ilford’s Hamzah Sheeraz (20-0).
Sunderland’s Josh Kelly (15-1-1) takes on late replacement Ishmael Davis (13-0) at middleweight.
Londoner Joshua Buatsi (18-0) and Scotland’s Willy Hutchinson (18-1, 13 KO) clash for the interim WBO Light-Heavyweight title and Portsmouth Lightweight Mark Chamberlain (16-0) puts his undefeated record on the line against Yorkshire’s Josh Padley (14-0).