New Headline: Champion Anthony Cacace Defeats Rivals in Thrilling Grand Slam Victory!
The Belfast boxer became a two-time champion with his hard-fought win over Jazza Dickens, and he is deserving of a spot on a possible Croke Park megacard
Both Jazza Dickens and Anthony “The Apache” Cacace belong to a different time in the boxing business, a time when boxers without infamy and entourages won and lost title fights as part of their day job. On Saturday night in Dublin , in front of boxing’s loudest crowd, Cacace beat Dickens on points over 12 torrid rounds to win the WBA super-featherweight title. The win kept his journey inside the boxing world alive.
The Belfast boxer became a two-time world champion and remains one of the sport’s gentle heroes, a man with no concerns for the limelight. It was the sixth defeat in 42 fights for Dickens, and he had entered the ring as the champion on a night when it was obvious that the two veterans would fight for every second of every round and across every inch of the blood-stained canvas. It was not a classic; it was never going to be a classic, but it was always going to be hard.
Dickens, who is from Liverpool, thought that he had done enough at the end, but the three judges made the right call, and Cacace won with scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 116-113. The judges only agreed unanimously on five of the 12 rounds. On the night, Cacace was just too smart at times, too big, and did enough in tight rounds.
Cacace, who is now 37, has been on an exceptional run of wins, the type of sequence that can be compared with the best by any British or Irish fighter in modern or ancient days. Cacace won the IBF super-featherweight title when he stopped Cardiff’s Joe Cordina in Saudi Arabia in 2024, then he beat Josh Warrington, stopped Leigh Wood and defeated Dickens. A stunning quartet of consecutive wins in less than two years.