Former IBF super featherweight champion Anthony Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) just had too munch skills for Leigh Wood (28-4, 17 KOs), outboxing, out-punching and overwhelming him with shots in the ninth round to get a ninth round TKO on Saturday night at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.
Wood Awakens the Beast
Wood seemed to motivate Cacace in the ninth round by nailing him with a right hand. Cacace then went after Wood, throwing a nonstop storm of punches, hurting Leigh, causing him to fall into the ropes. The referee gave Wood a standing eight count. After the action resumed, Wood fought gallantly, landing some nice shots. However, Cacace continued to pound on him, tagging him with some uppercuts that caused Wood to flee across the ring. At this point, Wood’s corner threw in the towel to save him from being dropped. The time of the stoppage was at 2:15 of round nine.
“My timing was a little bit off in the early rounds. I could have done that earlier, but I suppose I was taking my time and warming into it,” said Cacace to Queensberry after his victory over Wood. “I could feel Leigh. He was getting a little bit of confidence mid-rounds. I had to stop that. The boys were shouting, ‘Double attacks.’ Then I started doubling them up.”
Light heavyweight prospect Erza Taylor (12-0, 8 KOs) used his heavy combination punching and defensive skills to defeat Troy Jones (12-1, 6 KOs). The scores were 99-91, 100-90, and 97-94. Jones tried his best, but he lacked the punching power to win. Taylor was caught with some big shots with his showboating at times. He thought he was slick and getting nailed with worrisome shots. Taylor will have to change that habit of his if he ever gets to the world level. He can get away with fighting at the domestic level like he is now. If he ever fights top-tier 15 competition, he’ll get found out fighting like he did tonight.
dominated the hapless Troy Jones (12-1, 6 KOs), winning a 12-round unanimous decision. The scores were 99-91, 100-90, and 97-94. It wasn’t an easy fight for Taylor, as he was getting hit a lot, but he still had too much firepower for Jones.
Liam Davies (17-1, 8 KOs) used his skills to dominate Kurt Walker (12-1, 2 KOs), winning a surprisingly easy 12-round unanimous decision to capture the IBF Inter-continental featherweight title. Davies, 29, frustrated Walker with jabbing, moving, and countering with sharp punches. Walker looked desperate in the championship rounds, trying everything to get back into the fight. He didn’t have anything in the cupboard that was useful. The judges scored 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111.
Welterweight Owen Cooper (11-1, 4 KOs) used a fast pace to outwork Chris Kongo (17-3, 7 KOs), winning a 10-round points decision. Cooper used activity to outwork the exhausted Kongo down the stretch. Referee Kevin Parker scored it 96-94 for Cooper.