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Anthony Cacace is expected to vacate his IBF super featherweight title to fight Leigh Wood. The IBF belt will be vacated for #1 Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Núñez (27-1, 27 KOs) and #3 Masanori Rikiish (16-1, 11 KOs) to fight for it.
It makes sense for Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs), 35, to vacate the IBF title to fight former two-time WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood (28-3, 17 KOs), because it is a fight that will bear fruit. Good for Antonio.
Is it time to shine for Núñez?
Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Núñez has been impressive, knocking out his last 17 opponents since suffering the only loss of his career to Hiram Gallardo via six-round unanimous decision in June 20018. In Núñez’s last four fights, he has knocked out Miguel Marriaga , Oscar Escandón, Jesús Martín Ceyca and Willmank Canonico Brito.
It’s hard to know how good an eight-year pro Rikiish, 30, is because he has fought mostly unknown opponents his entire career in his native Japan. He’s lost once as a pro, but he’s been fighting under the radar against opponents most fans have never heard of. That’s not a good sign.
Little chance of success
The 13-year-old professional Cacace’s chances of success against ‘Sugar’ Núñez would have been minimal due to the power, youth and aggressiveness of the Mexican fighter. It wouldn’t have been much of a payday for Cacace to face Núñez, and the result probably would have been bad for him.
Last year, Cacace defeated IBF 130-pound champion Joe Cordina, destroying him in eight rounds on May 18 in Riyadh. The fight was not even remotely close, as Cacace was too fast and too busy for the weight-depleted Cordina in that contest. Cacace knocked down Cordina in the third round and it seemed like he never recovered from that.
In Cacace’s last fight, he defeated former featherweight champion Josh Warrington by unanimous decision in 12 rounds on September 21 on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in London.
I watched the fight and it seemed like Cacace took it easy on Warrington, staying in second gear throughout the contest and not giving him the same rough treatment he gave Cordina in their previous fight. If that was the game, it was a kind gesture on Cacace’s part because Warrington looked completely fired up. He would have folded like a cheap suit if Cacace had harassed him like he did Cordina all night.
“With Anthony Cacace expected to vacate his IBF belt to fight former champion Leigh Wood, the super featherweight belt will be determined by a fight between top-ranked Eduardo Nunez and Japan’s No. 3 Masanori Rikiishi , they told me,” Lance Pugmire said in unknown.
