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Even the ever humble Anthony Cacace can’t deny it.
‘The Apache’ is now up there among the Irish all-time greats.
The Anderstown native joined the rare list of Irish world champions when he stopped Joe Cordina to win the IBF super featherweight world title last September and has since cemented his legacy with impressive wins over Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood.
Indeed, the fact that the former British champion and IBO title holder has defeated three two-time world champions on the bounce has prompted ‘all-time great’ talk.
In the aftermath of stopping Wood in Nottingham on Saturday, his name has been mentioned alongside names like Katie Taylor, Steve Collins, Barry McGuigan, Carl Frampton, Wayne McCullough and other modern Irish stars, and he can see why.
“I’m up there now, aren’t I?” said Cacace.
“I have to be. These guys are legends in their own right – Leigh Wood, Josh Warrington, Joe Cordina…
“I have to be up there in terms of one of the best Irish boxers and it’s so great to be able to say that. It’s insane, it really is insane.
“It’s like things that I dreamt of, things I thought were impossible to do, genuinely impossible to do and I’m sitting here now… It’s crazy.”
Cacace always cuts a humble figure despite many being big on his talent, so discussing possible greatness doesn’t come easily.
Indeed, he points out he sometimes struggles with self-belief.
“It’s all down to Barry (O’Neill), Ruairi Dalton, Michael, and Michael Senior. They’ve been putting the hard work in the gym.,” he says praising his team.
“I’m relying on these men here to tell me that I can do it, relying on Ruairi Dalton to tell me that I’m the best, and Barry to tell me that I’m special, because it does make me feel special. I’m like a princess. The team have picked me up this whole time.”
