Anthony Cacace and Leigh Wooden will battle for relevance tonight in a 12-round tremendous featherweight contest on the Motorpoint Enviornment in Nottingham, England. Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) defends his IBO 130-lb title in opposition to the inactive and, some imagine, ring-worn former two-time WBA 126-lb champion Wooden (28-3, 17 KOs).
Tonight’s essential card reside on DAZN begins at 2 pm ET / 11 am PT. Ring walks for the principle occasion are at roughly 5:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm PT.
Many followers imagine Cacace, 36, is a one-hit surprise who pulled off an upset of Joe Cordina to win the IBF 130-lb title, then shortly vacated it when he was ordered to defend in opposition to the harmful KO artist Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez. Cacace handled his IBF title like a sizzling potato and couldn’t eliminate it shortly sufficient to take a better struggle in opposition to the war-torn vet Josh Warrington final September.
DAZN Battle Card
Tonight’s Major Card on DAZN at 2:00 PM
Anthony Cacace vs. Leigh Wooden – HeadlinerEzra Taylor vs. Troy Jones – Co-mainLiam Davies vs. Kurt WalkerOwen Cooper vs. Chris KongoSam Noakes vs. Patrik Balaz
Even when Cacace wins tonight, it’s tough to see him beating any of the champions at 130. He had the best scenario going up in opposition to a weak belt-holder, Cordina, final 12 months. However there aren’t any flawed paper champions within the tremendous featherweight division now for Cacace to prey upon. So, preventing on the home stage would possibly pretty much as good because it will get for the rest of his profession. The identical applies to Wooden. There aren’t any straightforward outs for him to choose up a belt at 130, like he’d completed at 126 in opposition to Can Xu and Mauricio Lara.
It’s inconceivable to find out what Wooden, 36, has left as a result of he’s by no means fought any of the elite-level featherweights in his profession. His former promoter, Eddie Hearn, turned him right into a two-time champion with out matching him in opposition to cutting-edge competitors.
Hearn’s Matchmaking
Hearn did his job, holding Wooden away from the wolves at 126, like Rafael Espinoza and Raymond Ford, who would have probably had a straightforward meal of him. He steered Wooden into two world titles with out ever preventing anybody you may name a very good fighter.
For instance, Wooden misplaced to fringe contender Mauricio Lara of their first struggle. On the time, Lara was thought-about a ‘protected’ struggle for Wooden. He may need misplaced the rematch if Mauricio hadn’t come into the struggle chubby after being rushed into the rematch.
