ANTHONY Cacace has left the door ajar for a move up to 135lbs, highlighting American stars Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Shakur Stevenson as potential opponents.
The 36-year-old extended his ruthless super-featherweight surge last Saturday, securing a punishing ninth-round stoppage victory over former two-time world champion Leigh Wood.
As it happened, the Belfast man had relinquished his IBF title – rather than facing mandatory challenger ‘Sugar’ Nunez – to pursue the far more lucrative clash with Wood.
Sure enough, his decision proved beneficial, both financially and profile-wise, with Cacace, 24-1 (9 KOs), now looking to enhance his earning potential and legacy in one fell swoop.
His latest stoppage follows back-to-back victories over Josh Warrington and Joe Cordina, where both performances saw the spindly switch-hitter firmly establish himself at world level.
But after his victory over Wood, Queensberry boss Frank Warren, Cacace’s promoter, insisted that the road warrior’s next outing will take place in Belfast.
Before long, ‘Anto’ then named WBC world super-featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster as a possible dance partner, teasing that there have already been discussions for the mouth-watering matchup.
At the same time, though, it could appear that Cacace is willing to sacrifice a much-anticipated homecoming if a life-changing opportunity at lightweight is to present itself.
Naturally, pound-for-pound stars Stevenson, 23-0 (11 KOs), and Davis, 30-0-1 (28 KOs) – the WBC and WBA world champions respectively – occupy the top of his hit list.
But with the former facing William Zepeda on July 12 and the latter expected to rematch Lamont Roach later this year, Cacace may have to settle for Foster after all.
A move up to 135lbs, however, is most certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.
“I’m still making super-featherweight handy enough – I’ve been doing it for years,” Cacace said on DAZN’s Ariel and Ade show.
“It’s down to [my] professionalism, and discipline, and the hard work I’ve put in that I can [make 130lbs] still.
“But if I can get one of these big fights at lightweight – you know, Shakur Stevenson [or] ‘Tank’ Davis – they’re the fights I got into boxing for.
“So to be in [a fight] like that – in America, Las Vegas or [somewhere] like that – would just be unbelievable.”
