Anthony Cacace is interested in moving up to 135 to challenge lightweight world champions Vasily Lomachenko and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis after successfully defending his IBO super featherweight title against Josh Warrington last Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London.
It’s an easy decision for the 35-year-old Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) to decide whether to stay at 130 or move up to 135. The money that Cacace can make fighting Tank Davis or Lomachenko is considerably more than staying at super featherweight and facing the dangerous Eudardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez (27-1, 27 KOs).
Cacace won’t get near the same payday fighting the big puncher ‘Sugar’ Nunez compared to what he would receive against Lomachenko or Tank. If Cacace were younger, staying at 130 to fight the likes of Nunez would make sense, but not with him closing in on his 36th birthday.
Last Saturday night, Cacace defeated wily former two-time featherweight champion Warrington (31-4-1, 8 KOs) by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in a competitive fight. Warrington did an excellent job of negating Cacace’s offense by staying close, throwing combinations, and holding.
Cacace didn’t do as good a job as he would have liked, staying at range to take advantage of his long reach and superior power. The scores were 117-111, 118-110 and 117-111
“I would be looking to move up to lightweight and fighting Vasily Lomachenko and Tank Davis. I’m mental. I’m in that league,” said Anthony Cacace to BBC. “I’m right there for any of those boys. If I move up to lightweight, I’m mandatory for Lomachenko’s [135-lb IBF] title.
It’s not likely that Tank Davis’ management would agree to match him against Cacace because that would be a tough fight for the Baltimore native. Tank’s management is very calculated with who they match him, and they prefer to focus on easy targets, which is why he’s not more popular than he is.
“We’re just going to have to see. It’s all in my hands. I’m in the driver’s seat now,” said Cacace.
“I know I had it in me to beat Josh [Warrington]. It wasn’t the greatest performance, but I got the job done. That’s two world champions in a row that I beat,” said Cacace to iFL TV, talking about his wins over Joe Cordina and Josh Warrington.
There was never any question that Cacace would defeat Warrington, because they were a division apart in size, and he was on another level than the fading former featherweight champion. However, Cacace was supposed to fight a lot better than he showed, and that’s the disappointment because he didn’t fight as well as he could have.
“He’s very slippery and very experienced. He’s a two-time world champion. He’s not a two-time world champion for being a novice,” said Cacace about his fight against Warrington last Saturday night. “He’s very smart with the way he moves his head. He had my right hook covered and my right hook covered by holding onto my left.”
Warrington fought a smart fighter, and was like glue with the way he got inside on Cacace, and not allowing him to take the fight to the outside. It wasn’t until the championship rounds that Cacace was able to keep the fight at a distance. By then, it was too late for him to wear down Warrington to score a knockout.
“It was very intelligent of him. The main thing is I got the win column, and I may not have performed at my best ability, but I got the job done. My corner was frustrated at me not keeping it long, and double it up and triple it up. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out that way,” said Cacace.
If Cacace moves up to lightweight, he has to fight a lot smarter against the talented fighters in that division because they’re too powerful and skilled for him not to use his best assets.
