Anthony Cacace


Anthony Cacace is a professional boxer from Northern Ireland. He has held the International Boxing Organization super-featherweight title since 2022, and previously held the International Boxing Federation super-featherweight title from 2024 to 2025.

Professional career

Early career

Cacace made his professional debut on 25 February 2012, scoring a first-round technical knockout victory over Ben Wager at the Emerald Roadhouse in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Followed three more wins—a points decision over Kristian Laight in April; a sixth-round TKO over Mickey Coveney in July; and Aivaras Balsys by PTS in September—Cacace fought Mickey Coveney for a second time on 3 November 2012 at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin. Cacace won via first-round TKO to capture the BUI super-featherweight title. His final fight of 2012 was a PTS victory against Youssef al-Hamidi in December.
He gained decision victories over Zsolt Nagy in March and Osnel Charles in October 2013, followed by wins over Dawid Knade by TKO in September and Simas Volosinas by PTS in December 2014. He began 2015 with a PTS win over Santiago Bustos in February and a TKO win against Karoly Lakatos in June. His last fight of 2015 was against Ronnie Clark for the vacant Celtic super-featherweight title. The bout took place on 16 October at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh. Cacace captured the Celtic title via tenth-round TKO in a scheduled ten-round fight.
Following two fights in 2016 — a corner retirement win against Jamie Quinn in September and a PTS win over Leonel Hernandez in November—Cacace challenged British super-featherweight champion Martin J Ward on 15 July 2017, at the Wembley Arena in London, with the vacant Commonwealth title also on the line. In what was a close competitive fight, Cacace suffered the first defeat of his professional career, losing by unanimous decision over twelve rounds, with the judges' scorecards reading 116–113, 116–114 and 115–113, all in favour of Ward.
Following his defeat to Ward, Cacace gained a PTS victory over six rounds against Reynaldo Mora in December 2017. After 14 months out of the ring, Cacace was back in action in February 2019 with an eight-round PTS win over Alan Castillo.
Cacace, as the mandatory contender, was due to challenge for the British super-featherweight title on 3 August 2019 against reigning champion Sam Bowen, however, Bowen pulled out of the fight due to a back injury. The bout was rescheduled for 30 November at Arena Birmingham. Cacace won, capturing the British title via split decision, with two judges scoring the bout 115–113 to Cacace while the third scored it 115–112 to Bowen.
Cacace won the IBO super-featherweight title by defeating Michael Magnesi via split decision at Manchester Arena on 24 September 2022.

IBF Super featherweight champion

Cacace vs. Cordina

On 18 May 2024, Cacace challenged then unbeaten champion Joe Cordina for the IBF super-featherweight title on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk. After dropping and badly hurting Cordina in round three, Cacace continued to pour on the pressure and ended up scoring an eighth round technical knockout win. This made him the first Irish super-featherweight champion.

Cacace vs. Warrington

Cacace defeated two-time former featherweight world champion Josh Warrington by unanimous decision at Wembley Stadium on 21 September 2024. The three ringside judges scored the fight 118–110, 117–111, 117–111 respectively in his favour. Cacace's belt was not on the line as the IBF did not recognise Warrington as a challenger due to his inactivity in the super-featherweight division, with the governing body announcing he would be stripped of the title had he lost the contest.

Vacating title

Cacace vacated the IBF title on 31 January 2025. In a social media post announcing the decision he said: "Becoming a world champion was an absolute dream and an incredibly proud moment for me. However, at this stage of my career, I only want the biggest fights possible, regardless of the belt on the line."

Cacace vs. Wood

Cacace successfully defended his IBO title by stopping Leigh Wood in the ninth round of their bout at Nottingham Arena on 10 May 2025.

WBA super-featherweight title challenge

Cacace vs. Dickens

Cacace is scheduled to challenge WBA super-featherweight champion Jazza Dickens at 3Arena in Dublin on 14 March 2026.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
25Win24–1Leigh WoodTKO9, 2:1510 May 2025Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained IBO super-featherweight title
24Win23–1Josh WarringtonUD1221 Sep 2024Wembley Stadium, London, EnglandRetained IBO super-featherweight title
23Win22–1Joe CordinaTKO8, 0:3918 May 2024Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaRetained IBO super-featherweight title;
Won IBF super-featherweight title
22Win21–1Damian WrzesińskiUD1227 May 2023SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern IrelandRetained IBO super-featherweight title
21Win20–1Michael MagnesiSD1224 Sep 2022Manchester Arena, Manchester, EnglandWon IBO super-featherweight title
20Win19–1Lyon WoodstockUD1228 Aug 2021Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, EnglandRetained British super-featherweight title
19Win18–1Sam Bowen1230 Nov 2019Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, EnglandWon British super-featherweight title
18Win17–1Alan CastilloPTS823 Feb 2019The O2 Arena, London, England
17Win16–1Reynaldo MoraPTS621 Dec 2017Holiday Inn, Birmingham, England
16Loss15–1Martin Joseph WardUD1215 Jul 2017Wembley Arena, London, EnglandFor British, and vacant List of [Commonwealth Boxing Council champions#Super featherweight|Commonwealth super-featherweight] titles
15Win15–0Leonel HernandezPTS619 Nov 2016Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, England
14Win14–0Jamie Quinn1, 3:003 Sep 2016Robin Park Center, Wigan, England
13Win13–0Ronnie Clark10, 2:5116 Oct 2015Meadowbank Sports Center, Edinburgh, ScotlandWon vacant Celtic super-featherweight title
12Win12–0Karoly LakatosTKO3, 1:3914 Jun 2015Hotel Aquincum, Budapest, Hungary
11Win11–0Santiago BustosPTS828 Feb 2015Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
10Win10–0Simas VolosinasPTS66 Dec 2014Olympia, Liverpool, England
9Win9–0Dawid KnadeTKO2, 2:096 Sep 2014Titanic Quarter, Belfast, Northern Ireland
8Win8–0Osnel Charles412 Oct 2013The Electric Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
7Win7–0Zsolt NagyPTS69 Mar 2013Fairways Hotel, Dundalk, Ireland
6Win6–0Youssef al-HamidiPTS48 Dec 2012Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland
5Win5–0Mickey CoveneyTKO1, 3:093 Nov 2012National Basketball Arena, Dublin, IrelandWon BUI super-featherweight title
4Win4–0Alvaras BalsysPTS87 Sep 2012York Hall, London, England
3Win3–0Mickey CoveneyTKO6, 1:3221 Jul 2012Emerald Roadhouse, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2Win2–0Kristian Laight47 Apr 2012Grove Leisure Centre, Newark, England
1Win1–0Ben Wager1, 1:0525 Feb 2012Emerald Roadhouse, Belfast, Northern Ireland