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Anto Cacace remains the IBF super featherweight champion following an assured performance tonight at Wembley Stadium.
Boxing on the Anthony Joshua v Daniel Dubois undercard, the Belfast maestro unanimously outpointed Josh Warrington over twelve rounds.
Bigger, smarter, and stronger, Cacace landed the cleaner shots throughout to take a deserved decision over a brave opponent who has caused much Irish pain in years gone by.
Leeds Warrior Warrington had previously beaten Martin Lindsay, Pajo Hyland, and, most notably, Carl Frampton, but could not get past Cacace on the big Riyadh Season event.
Stepping up to 130lbs, Warrington attempted to outwork and outlast Cacace but the Andersonstown switch-hitter had too much class and power.
35-year-old Cacace, after innumerable disappointments, summited the mountain in May with a shock win over champion Joe Cordina in Saudi Arabia. That belt was not on the line tonight, with the IBF instead granting a one-off exception as Cacace is still due to face Mexican mandatory Sugar Nunez but, regardless, ‘The Apache’ claimed the biggest scalp of his career.
Always known to be big for the weight, the size difference was evident from the opening bell as the wide-shouldered Cacace looked to land shots from distance, rocking the head back of Warrington with one particularly snappy jab.
The Englishman, however, did manage to build some momentum in the second and third, investing in the body and doing some good work at close quarters.
Unfazed, Cacace made his statement in the fourth, hurting Warrington as they traded hooks before stunning the Matchroom man with a piercing uppercut.
In truth, the fight was not a classic. Messy in close, referee Howard Foster warned both in the fifth but the physical strength of Cacace was evident and he once again buzzed Warrington with a wide left hand.
In a close sixth, Warrington continued to target the body but the uppercuts of Cacace, a constant threat, were doing enough damage to win rounds – and the same could be said of a quiet seventh.
Cacace appeared to take a round off in the eighth and Warrington, sensing an opportunity, landed left hands upstairs but the Irishman responded well down the stretch.
A bodyshot had Warrington hurt in the ninth before a straight right hand in the tenth tested the chin of the brave Yorkshireman.
Known for his industrial use of the head, Warrington opened a cut to the side of the left eye of Cacace but the eleventh was perhaps the clearest of the fight as the champion took the sting out of the contest with clean work from range.
Knowing it was perhaps the final round of his career, Warrington tore out of the blocks in a scrappy twelfth but a tiring Cacace was still able to score well with poking shots – and perhaps could have had a knockdown ruled as he caught his slipping opponent with one of these.
Nevertheless, it was immaterial as it went to the cards and Cacace was confirmed the winner on wide scorecards of 118-110 and 117-111 x2.
The victory sees Ireland’s only male World champion improve to 23(8)-1(0) and he must now face Nunez within the next 180 days. 33-year-old Warrington, who appeared to retire in the aftermath, symbolically placing his gloves in the centre of the ring, finishes at 31(8)-4(2)-1.
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