IBO Super-featherweight world title: Anto Cacace (22-1) v Josh Warrington (31-3-1) (Saturday, Wembley Stadium, 6pm, live on Sky Sports Box Office and DAZN)
AROUND the corner from Cricklewood Train Station a fella gives the Lucky 7 pub a lick of emerald green paint.
Later I spot him giving the white lettering on the outside another coat, it reads: ‘Cead Mile Failte’. The Lucky 7 (the kind of pub you don’t get in Ireland any more) is a little island of Irishness in the midst of London’s multi-cultural sea. No more or less out of place than the Afghani takeaways or the Bangladeshi restaurants that surround it.
Anto Cacace – a beacon of Celtic pride in a sea of humanity - is the only Irishman in action at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night. A UK record 96,000 fight fans have bought tickets, the majority for the heavyweight headliner between AJ (Anthony Joshua) and the equally enormous IBF belt holder Daniel Dubois, for the show. Liam Gallagher’s appearance as the warm-up act before the main event won’t have hurt either.
Yes, it’s a terrific event to be involved in but that’s just a sideshow. Strip it all down and there’s a ring and two men fighting for their careers.
Up until last May, Cacace’s career had rarely gone to plan. Overlooked and ignored for a decade, he was very close to becoming Irish boxing’s forgotten man several times.
“Thanks for the interest,” he told me a few years ago after we’d done an interview about a career that was going nowhere fast.
The promise of riches in America turned out to be a pipedream and then, for a while, it seemed that Cyclone Promotions would rescue him from obscurity. That didn’t pan out either and after a row over Cacace buying a steak for his lunch, the relationship turned sour.
The late Pat Magee took Cacace under his wing after that and since then his long-term friend Michael Hawkins junior and his boxing guru dad Michael senior have helped create this remarkable and long-awaited Indian Summer.
Winning the IBO super-featherweight world title in late 2022 against Italian Michael Magnesi was the stepping stone for Cacace to challenge for one of the main belts. He got his shot against IBF champion Joe Cordina in Saudi Arabia in May and boy did he take it. His performance that night in the desert has to go down as one of the best ever by an Irish fighter.
Afterwards there were the predictable bleatings about Cordina being “weight-drained” but Cacace was unstoppable. A thunderous right hook early on set the tone for a brilliant display from the tall southpaw from Andersonstown who finished it in the eighth.
Because Warrington isn’t their mandatory champion, the IBF title isn’t on the line tonight. That’s a pity because this fight deserves the acclaim and attention that two belts would bring because it should be an edge-of-the-seat cracker.
Cacace will have to give up the IBF belt – which will become vacant – if he loses. He is 35 now and Warrington is 33 so defeat at Wembley could well be the end of the road for the loser.
That won’t be Anto, promises his coach Mickey Hawkins senior who has been with his fighter throughout a hectic fight week at various locations around London. Cacace is determined to prove he’s no “one-fight wonder”.
“Anto is doing very well,” said the Holy Trinity ABC boxing coach.
“I expect Warrington to come out swinging. I don’t think he knows how to do it any differently at this stage of his career. It’s a big, big opportunity and he’ll be out to grasp the title from Anto.
“For us, we’re trying to make certain of a win and not just be a one-fight wonder.
“We’re in great shape and everybody is very confident, but not overly, because anything can happen in this game. We’re all anxiously looking forward to it.”
Warrington’s way is to come out fighting. He is usually up for it and busy from the first bell but the Cacace camp have worked on a range of scenarios to their man through the fight.
“We don’t know what he’s going to bring,” says Hawkins.
“But we’ll be ready from the first round. We’ve discussed game plans and it’ll be A, B and C because you just don’t know what could happen. We’ll be ready for anything.”
IN the other corner on Saturday night is a man forged in a Yorkshire furnace. Josh Warrington is hard as nails, as determined as ever and with a chip on his shoulder after being written off.
He has Belfast roots. His grandfather left Belfast for Leeds and he is trained by his father Sean O’Hagan who has been a regular visitor to the city over the years. Almost a year after his last fight, O’Hagan says his son has returned bigger and stronger than ever
“We’re 3-0 against Irishmen and hopefully 4-0 on Saturday,” said O’Hagan in referee to Warrington’s previous wins against Paddy Hyland, Martin Lindsay and Carl Frampton.
“Anthony is a good fighter, I like him, I know his team, they’re very good. He’s an Irishman so he’s going to be there for the duration of the fight. There’s no needle, we’re just down to business.
“We should have gone up - from featherweight (9st) to super-featherweight (9st4lbs) - a couple of years ago but when you’re contracted for fights and you’re waiting for fights and then keep falling through and you’ve got to hang about for the next opportunity…
“But here we are now and we’re ready to do it on Saturday night.”
His son has danced with the devil since he beat Carl Frampton half-a-dozen years’ ago. A series of brutal encounters began with a knockout loss (the first of his career) at Wembley against Mexico’s ‘El Bronco’ Mauricio Lara. The rematch in Leeds was stopped after a head clash.
Warrington regained his world title by beating Kiko Martinez but had his jaw broken in the process.
Since then he has lost to Luis Lopez (a tight decision) and was stopped by Leigh Wood. Wood, as he does, soaked up serious punishment in that fight then, as he does, caught his opponent with a game-changing shot that knocked exhausted Warrington out.
“We didn’t get the rub of the green against Lopez,” says O’Hagan.
“Then, the Wood fight, the break in momentum caused by the referee (Warrington was deducted a point for hitting round the back of the head) didn’t do us any favours. With Lara, there was an illness before it but that’s one of those things.
“We’re very confident, very, very confident. Cacace is a big hitter – bigger than his record suggests – but we’ve done our homework and we’re not bothered how we win as long as we win.
“The step up in weight has done us massive favours and I believe we’ve got enough to beat Anto.
“We had a good camp: no niggles, no injuries, no excuses…”
Who wins and why...
ANTO Cacace showed his boxing class against Joe Cordina in May to win the IBF title. He’s going to have to show that again and plenty of good old-fashioned guts as well to hold onto it.
Josh Warrington is capable of dragging him deep into the trenches and at some point(s) on Saturday night Cacace is going to find himself in trouble. Against a bull of fighter like Warrington, there’s no way he’ll have it all his own way.
Cacace has to ride the storm that is coming and make his southpaw style and size count. He has to box and move, stay off the ropes, get his shots away and keep the Leeds native at range.
Warrington is a brawler and he’ll come in on the front foot but he’s no kamikaze. When he comes forward it’ll be behind the jab and then he’ll let his right hand go. When he’s close, he stays low and dips and moves and Cacace, who will be punching down as the taller man, could find him awkward to tag.
Warrington works so well on the inside and that’s where he’s most comfortable. He can smother Cacace’s work and take away his advantages in size and reach, get his head in Cacace’s face and pepper him with shots to the body and head. The referee will need to watch out for stray elbows and low blows.
Warrington is coming up to super-featherweight and his camp say he is bigger and stronger now. But does he still carry the power that stunned Carl Frampton? Is he big enough and strong enough to take on a seasoned super-featherweight? Has he had one tough fight too many?
He is the challenger so Cacace can expect fireworks over the first three rounds. It’ll be explosive and there’ll be times when he has to stand his ground but he needs to stay mobile, keep it long and take the sting out of Warrington.
If he forces Warrington to take chances, opportunities for walking him onto shots will come along from the midway point and his size, strength and quality should allow him to seize control and take him to a points win.