IT looks like a straight choice between the belt and the purse as Anto Cacace weighs up his next move.
Cacace, the IBF and IBO super-featherweight world champion, has Mexico’s Eduardo Nunez and England’s Leigh Wood on his radar after he dealt comfortably with the threat of Josh Warrington at Wembley Stadium last month.
Nunez is mandatory challenger and has called out the Andersonstown fighter saying:
“Time to put our cards on the table and take care of business.
“Everyone knows the next step is Cacace versus Nunez. I hope our fight will be made soon.”
Cacace is certainly receptive to the fight but professional boxing is all about business and the business “isn’t right” according to the ‘Andytown Apache’ who, at 35, obviously and understandably wants to take the most lucrative option possible.
“I’ll fight any man but the business has to be right and, with Nunez, it’s not right,” he said.
“He’s mandatory for the title but the business side of things is not right. If it was right, Nunez would be next. No problem.
“He’s mandatory and for him to get the shot it (the purse) has to be right. It would 100 per cent be a great scrap while it lasted and I genuinely believe that I beat Nunez more convincingly than I beat Warrington. He’s a tough, strong lad but he hasn’t got the boxing IQ I have, he hasn’t got the long levers, he jumps in with shots…
“Styles make fights and I know that style, I’ve been in with plenty of people with that style who have been big, big punchers but they haven’t been able to beat me. His punch power is definitely there but in terms of boxing ability I believe I’m the superior fighter.”
The uncertainty over the Nunez fight has opened the door for Wood who is well known to Irish fans for his duel with Michael Conlan a couple of years ago. The Nottingham native is a warrior to the backbone who has made his name by coming through a series of barn-burning shootouts.
Cacace would have to give up his IBF belt to face him but Wood said it’ll be worth his while financially.
“The Cacace fight is the one I want,” he said.
“I think I’ll beat him in style - with all due respect to him. He’s a really good fighter and it’ll probably be a hard fight, but I’m never in an easy fight!
“It’s a fight I’m very confident I can win and it’s a fight I want to try my best to make and to make next and soon.
“I’m definitely the biggest fight for Cacace. Whether he wants to hold onto that world title and go down the route, that’s up to him so he’s got a decision to make. I’ve seen him say he wants to get the biggest fight financially and I believe that’s me. He’d get a lot more money fighting me than he would Nunez but it’s his decision. I believe it’s an exciting fight, it’s one for the fans and wherever it is: England, Ireland, Saudi… It’s a great fight.”
BEWARE South American underdogs and overlook them at your peril. Unheralded fighting men from Mexico and Columbia have proved that old warning over and over again when they’ve travelled to Europe expected to make up the numbers only to cause a massive shock against the local favourite.
James Tennyson is a good example. A few years ago Tennyson was riding high and challenging for another crack at a world title when he took on Mexico’s Jiovanni Straffon in Manchester. Straffon’s record was nothing to write home about but he grabbed his opportunity and knocked unsuspecting Tennyson out in the first round.
You can add in others like Breidis Prescott upset victory Amir Khan, Mauricio Lara against Josh Warrington…
On November 1, Pody McCrory is up against Leonard Carrillo (17-5) and he promises he’ll take no chances against the hammer-handed Columbian.
“If you’re fighting a guy who has 17 wins and has knocked out 16 of them, you have to be wary of him,” says McCrory, a devastating hitter in his own right.
“If you watch his clips, he’s evidently a big puncher. Guys like Carrillo might have a few defeats but they punch so hard that they can cause an upset and he has done that before. He knows what it’s like to go away and win and I’m sure he’s planning on doing that at the SSE.
“But – if I’m totally honest – this is a fight that I should be winning. I plan to be on my game, I plan on a destructive performance and a big win to get me back in the mix.
“The main thing as always is just getting the win but I feel like, if I want to get back to where I want to be, then I’ve got to look good doing it.”
McCrory hasn’t fought since his loss to Edgar Berlanga in Orlando back in February. The former IBO light-heavyweight champ gave up that belt (Artur Beterbiev beat Dmitrii Bivol in Saudi Arabia to win it last weekend) to concentrate on his career at super-middle and returns to action at an agreed weight of 172lbs.
“I’m on track,” says McCrory.
“I was expecting to be out on the last Belfast card but it didn’t happen so I had a bit of time from then and I’ve been working hard since then. I’ve been sparring and everything is looking good. We’re two weeks out and all the hard work is done.”
November 1, SSE Arena fight card:
Light-heavyweight: Padraig McCrory (18-1) Leonard Carrillo (17-5)
Super-lightweight: Robbie Davies Jr (23-5) v Javier Fortuna (38-4-1)
Featherweight: Kurt Walker (11-0) v Rudy Garcia (13-1-1)
Boxing Union of Ireland Irish Super-Bantamweight (vacant): Ruadhan Farrell (5-1-1) v Connor Kerr (3-1)
Super-Bantamweight: Matthew Boreland (3-0) v Calum Turnbull (5-3)
Featherweight: Colm Murphy (12-0) v Erick Omar Lopez (16-18-2)
Cruiserweight: Tommy McCarthy (20-6) v TBC
Super-lightweight: Brandon McCarthy (2-0) v Michel Gonxhe (6-6-1)
Super-featherweight: Teo Alin (1-0) v Joshua Ocampo (8-30-5)
Welterweight: Gareth Dowling (1-0) v TBC
Middleweight: Cathal McLaughlin (1-0) v Allan White (0-8)
Super-Bantamweight: Jack O’Neill (1-0) v Steven Maguire (4-50-1)
