Latest news with #Cacace
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Ryan Garner set for Bournemouth return to defend EBU belt against Reece Bellotti
Ryan Garner's next opponent has been confirmed, with the super featherweight set to defend his EBU title against Reece Bellotti. Undefeated Garner, (7-0 (8), picked up the EBU strap in March at the Bournemouth International Centre with a unanimous decision over the then-unbeaten Salvador Jimenez. Fighting out of Southampton, 'The Piranha' is set to travel to neighbouring Bournemouth on 26 July in a voluntary mandatory defence against Bellotti, 20-5 (15). Bellotti holds the the British and Commonwealth titles at super featherweight. Garner had been in talks with fellow Briton James 'Jazza' Dickens, 34-5 (14). Aside from his EBU title, Garner also holds the WBC international strap, having successfully defended it four times since winning it against Juan Jesus Antunez. Garner is seventh in the WBC's ratings and 13th with the IBF. Belotti is ranked 21st by the WBC and is unlisted by the other big three boxing organisations. 27-year-old Garner will hope that victory over Bellotti catapults him higher up the super-featherweight division. The weight class has thrown up some eye-catching bouts recently, with Anthony Cacace and Leigh Wood going head-to-head last weekend. Former IBF and current IBO champion Cacace managed to stop Wood in his own backyard. Garner was twice set to fight Cacace, only for bouts to fall through in April 2022 and November 2023. Garner has since admitted that either fight against Cacace would have come too soon for the Hampshire boxer, who is slowly building to world title contention. Ever since becoming a professional, Garner has been signed to Frank Warren's Queensbury Promotions.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
This weekend's boxing action on DAZN
Friday 9 May Starting at 01.00 UK time (Saturday morning), Andreas Katzourakis will meet Roberto Cruz for a fight from the famous Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston, Texas. Both undefeated, Katzourakis, 15-0 (10), and Cruz, 11-0 (7), will face each other in a super-welterweight bout. Also on the Houston card is a super-lightweight bout between Breyon Gorham, 18-0 (15), and Luis Feliciano, 17-2 (8); a lightweight fight between Oscar Alan Perez, 12-0-2 (7), and Cesar Juarez, 31-18 (24); and another super-lightweight fight between Giovanni Marquez, 12-0 (6), and Esteban Munoz, 10-4 (5). With a broadcast beginning half an hour later, this time from Orlando, Florida, will be a heavyweight fight between the Cuban Dainier Pero, 10-0 (8), and the Mexican Cesar Navarro, 13-2 (11). The pair will be meeting at the luxurious Caribe Royale Orlando hotel in the centre of Florida. Supporting the scheduled ten-round heavyweight fight will be a ten-round bout between lightweights Corey Marksman, 10-0-1 (7), and Tayden Beltran, 10-0-1 (5); another ten-round lightweight fight, this time between Kaipo Gallegos, 8-0-1 (6), and Pedro Castaneda Castro, 8-0-1 (5). Saturday 10 May This weekend's main action, however, remains between Cacace, 23-1 (8), and Wood, 28-3 (17), who meet at Motorpoint Arena in a fight for Cacace's IBO super-featherweight title. Hometown hero Wood is coming into the bout after a technical knockout win over former world champion Josh Warrington and a revenge victory over Mauricio Lara. Cacace, meanwhile, also moves into this weekend's action with a victory over Josh Warrington at Wembley Stadium when he defeated the Leeds man over twelve rounds. Cacace is undefeated in nearly eight years following a unanimous decision loss to Martin J Ward in 2017. Joining Cacace and Wood on the Nottingham card will be Liam Davies, 16-1 (8), who faces Kurt Walker, 12-0 (2), for the vacant IBF international featherweight title. More undercard action will be seen between light-heavyweights Ezra Taylor, 11-0 (8), and Troy Jones, 12-0 (6), who meet over ten rounds in a non-title fight. Nottingham's card on Saturday night will also be notable for the debuts of Harris Akbar, Joe Tyers, Charlie Senior, and Huey Malone, all successful amateurs who officially turn over to the professional side on Saturday night. DAZN is the home of combat sports, broadcasting over 185 fights a year from the world's best promoters, including Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Misfits, PFL, BKFC, GLORY and more. An Annual Saver subscription is a one-off cost of £119.99 / $224.99 (for 12 months access), that's just 64p / $1.21 per fight. There is also a Monthly Flex Pass option (cancel any time) at £24.99 / $29.99 per month. It is not just about fight night, a DAZN membership also includes access to documentaries and features, weekly magazine shows, live fight watchalongs, press conferences, weight-ins, open workouts, exclusive interviews and access to training camps, and podcasts and vodcasts. Sign up right now to watch the biggest stars and best fights.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Who is Leigh Wood: Fight record, stats, next bout and more
Leigh Wood will return to the ring after over eighteen months to challenge Anthony Cacace for the IBO super featherweight title at the Nottingham Arena this weekend. Despite this being Wood's first fight at the super-featherweight limit, a win over Cacace would position him for a shot at one of the 'big four' boxing titles. But it has been far from straight forward for the Nottingham fighter, who has had to pull himself through hard times and setbacks to climb his way to the top table of boxing. Stats Total fights: 31 Record: 28-3 (17 KOs) Rounds: 170 Height: 5' 7' Reach: 67' Early Career Wood made his debut in 2011 and worked his way to a shot at the British super-bantamweight title three years later, suffering a sixth-round knockout loss to Gavin McDonnell. This early setback forced him to re-build, eventually claiming the Midlands Area featherweight title by knocking out Lee Glover in two rounds in 2016. Despite this, Wood was still fighting four- and six-round fights in Midlands small halls before he got his shot at the Commonwealth featherweight title in 2018. After claiming the Commonwealth title and defending it, Wood made the next step up and claimed the WBO European title, beating Ryan Doyle in 2019. Stumbling once again, 'Leigh-thal' lost his European title in 2020 to James Dickens by majority decision. It looked as though it was one step forward and two steps back for Wood – having to bounce back and win the British featherweight title against Reece Mould the next year. World titles In 2021, Wood would receive a career-defining opportunity to challenge for a world title. At the Matchroom HQ Garden in Brentwood, Can Xu's WBA featherweight title was on the line. Wood was a massive underdog coming into the fight, but claimed a dramatic twelfth-round stoppage and his first world title after ten years. But defending a world title is another thing, and Wood's first defence was against Olympic Bronze medallist Michael Conlan in a bout in Nottingham in 2023. Symptomatic of his career, the fight was slipping away from Wood who was dropped in the first round and outboxed for the rest, but he stayed in the fight until the end – rallying in the final round to knock out Conlan in The Ring's 2022 fight of the year. This was not the end of the drama for the Midlands man who suffered a knockout loss of his own against Mauricio Lara in 2023. Five months later, he won an immediate rematch to reclaim his WBA title with a unanimous decision. Woods final fight at featherweight was against his Leeds rival, Josh Warrington, and it was another comeback victory. Down on all three scorecards, he picked a perfect hook followed up by a blistering five-shot combination to put Warrington down and force a referee stoppage.
Belfast Telegraph
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Belfast homecoming next on the agenda for ‘dreamer' Anthony Cacace after Leigh Wood win
The Anderstown man enjoyed another night to remember as he went into enemy territory and thrived, not allowing Wood off the hook once he had him going to send the travelling support into raptures. They travelled in numbers to back the 'Andytown Apache', but next time they will most likely have a shorter journey as in the aftermath, the talk was of a long-awaited homecoming, which could be in a challenge for O'Shaquie Foster's WBC super-featherweight title. Cacace gave up the IBF belt to face Wood at the weekend, but retained his IBO belt, yet claiming another world title strap would put the cherry on top of a magnificent run of form. "I'm at the stage now where I'm literally top of the tree," said a beaming Cacace after his win. "I've disposed of all the top featherweights and super featherweights in Britain, so I wouldn't mind bringing it back to Belfast and 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." Cacace's spectacular run that began 12 months ago when defeating Joe Cordina saw him grab the attention of the boxing world. Previously, he operated in the shadows, but not so anymore and performances like Saturday will only serve to see his stock rise further. It was a perfect display from Cacace who proved he had enough pop in his shots early, rocking Wood with the jab and although the Nottingham man remained a threat, there was just a sense the accumulation was beginning to tell. An accidental clash left Cacace with a bloodied nose in the eighth and perhaps this was injecting more urgency into his work as after Wood seemed to land with a big shot early in the ninth, a long, snaking right followed by a left saw Wood stagger back and held up by the ropes, referee John Latham gave the count. There was no letting the challenger off the hook as Cacace finished superbly, thudding home punches which prompted Wood's trainer, Ben Davison to throw the towel. "I thought to myself, you know, he's a Cinderella man," Cacace said of the final assault. "People have had him like that, and then he ends up sparking them out. I just said to myself, 'empty the tank'. I knew he was gone, and I was very aware that I could have blew up, but I felt that was him. You know, I could see Ben there, ready. I don't know, just keep punching until he throws it (towel) in. "It seems to be, everyone I hit, they're hurt. Leigh was hurt from the very first right hand that I hit him, right hook. And I could see it, you know, no disrespect to him, because he's a gentleman, and he's coming off a big layoff. I don't know if I fought the best Leigh Wood, but I fought Leigh Wood, as again, he's another two-time world champion. "He's beat some really good names, it was a fight he's been asking for, a fight that he's been telling everyone he was going to knock me out. It just shows you that I'm better than what I look like sometimes and I hit harder than my records suggest." The outpouring of joy was evident but also a sense of relief that the job was done as Cacace admitted to feeling a little anxious about this assignment. But his menacing performance serves as a warning that, despite being 36 years of age, he is still fresh and keen to take on another challenge before the year is out. "Never in my wildest dreams, genuinely, did I ever think that I would be where I'm at and that's the truth," he reflected. "We're living in dreamland compared to two years ago. I'm just very grateful, thank you God for everything that he's given me. I genuinely believe there's a higher power up there looking after me, because I just don't know if I deserve this or what, but it's something very special at the moment, and I love it. "I'll be 37 in February, so 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 they didn't want to give me the chance. I'm from Ireland, and this is British boxing, but I feel like sometimes the Irish are snubbed off a wee bit. "I just appreciate everything. I appreciate where I'm sitting now. I appreciate all you sitting round me now, as it's just weird, but it's class, and I enjoy it.'
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Belfast title fight would be 'unbelievable'
Anthony Cacace says he is hopeful of "doing something" in his home city of Belfast amid talk of a possible WBC super-featherweight world title shot against O'Shaquie Foster. The 36-year-old vacated the IBF belt to face Leigh Wood on Saturday but retained his IBO title with a ruthless ninth-round stoppage of the former two-time world champion in Nottingham. Just over a year ago Cacace was an unknown outside of local boxing circles but has firmly established himself as a major player in the division, doing so mostly on the road with his latest victory coming on his opponent's home turf. "I'm at the stage now where I'm literally top of the tree," said Cacace after extending his record to 24 wins and one loss from 25 fights. "I've disposed of all the top featherweights and super-featherweights in Britain, so I wouldn't mind bringing it back to Belfast and 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." Cacace stops Wood in brutal ninth round to retain title Impressive Cacace stops Wood in ninth round - as it happened Cacace's spectacular run that began 12 months ago when he stopped the previously undefeated Joe Cordina has led to him grabbing the attention of the boxing world and performances like Saturday will only serve to boost his stock further. In the decisive ninth round, a long, snaking right followed by a left saw Wood stagger back and be held up by the ropes before the 36-year-old beat referee John Latham's count. But there was no letting the challenger off the hook as Cacace finished superbly, thudding home punches that prompted Wood's trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. Just Cacace's ninth win inside the distance, he said he did not want to afford Wood the opportunity to show his feted powers of recovery. "I thought to myself, you know, he's a Cinderella man. "People have had him like that and then he ends up sparking them out, so I just said to myself, 'Empty the tank'. "I knew he was gone, and I was very aware that I could have blew up, but I felt that was him, I could see Ben there ready [so] just keep punching until he throws it in." Wood was returning to the ring after a 19-month break, but following wins over Cordina and Josh Warrington, Cacace has now beaten three two-time champions in succession. "I don't know if I fought the best Leigh Wood, but I fought Leigh Wood as again he's another two-time world champion," he said. "He's beaten some really good names. It was a fight he's been asking for, a fight that he's been telling everyone he was going to knock me out. "It just shows you that I'm better than what I look like sometimes and I hit harder than my records suggest." Cacace will turn 37 in February but, after his late rise through the division, said he has to "keep going". "Never in my wildest dreams, genuinely, did I ever think that I would be where I'm at and that's the truth," he added. "We're living in dreamland compared to two years ago. "I can't just stop now, can I? I'll have to keep going. I don't have many miles on the clock."
