Josh Warrington could have the possibility to dethrone a reigning titleholder.
He simply received’t have the possibility to go away the ring with the belt.
The Ring has confirmed that Anthony Cacace’s IBF 130-pound title is not going to be at stake in his combat versus Warrington this weekend. Their combat will transfer ahead however as a non-title combat, per a ruling from the sanctioning physique. Cacace-Warrington is a part of this Saturday’s Riyadh Season: Wembley Version present at Wembley Stadium in London.
As beforehand reported by The Ring on June 26, sanctioning was by no means secured on the time the combat was introduced. Cacace (22-1, 8 knockouts) was already attributable to face necessary challenger Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez (28-1, 278 KOs). Nevertheless, the present’s plans referred to as for all-UK matchups.
Leeds’ Warrington (31-3-1, 8 KOs) has not received a combat since March 2022, nor has he campaigned at junior light-weight. As solely boxing can, he was seen as the right candidate to face Cacace just because he speaks The King’s English.
The combat was by no means blessed by the IBF. Cacace was solely accredited to enter an non-compulsory combat after Nunez’s group agreed to the state of affairs.
That concession is conditional, nevertheless.
“The IBF, with the consent of Eduardo Nunez, has agreed to take part in an non-compulsory bout in opposition to Josh Warrington,” an IBF spokesperson confirmed to The Ring. “Not a protection of the IBF Jr. Light-weight title.”
Cacace will likely be stripped of the title ought to he lose versus Warrington this weekend. If the Belfast native wins, he’ll then must honor his beforehand ordered combat versus Nunez by no later than subsequent March 20.
Moreover, Cacace can not ask for an exception. This implies his facet can not entertain the concept of a title unification bout, though no such fights have come to floor.
Each fighters should agree in writing to the IBF’s phrases, or Cacace’s reign will finish the second the opening bell sounds this weekend.
An analogous standing was offered to RING cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, who needed to vacate his IBF title final December. The unbeaten 200-pound king ignored an ordered rematch with Mairis Briedis and as an alternative confronted unranked Ellis Zorro. The IBF refused to sanction the combat, which led to Opetaia relinquishing the title.
Opetaia stopped Zorro within the first spherical of a Dec. 23 bout in Riyadh. He returned to the town to regain his title in a Could 18 determination win over Briedis.
The identical present noticed Cacace win the IBF 130-pound title in an upset eighth-round knockout of unbeaten Joe Cordina (15-1, 9 KOs). A negotiation interval was ordered quickly thereafter to face Nunez, who knocked out former titlist Shavkat Rakhimov in a Feb. 16 title eliminator in Tajikistan.
Cacace and Nunez failed to come back to phrases, although three separate purse bid hearings had been canceled. The June 26 announcement was adopted by affirmation that Nunez would take a keep busy combat. He knocked out Miguel Marriaga on Aug. 31 in Carson, California to protect his place in line.
Warrington’s final win got here in a seventh-round stoppage of Kiko Martinez to regain the IBF featherweight title. He misplaced the belt in a Dec. 2022 twelve-round determination to Luis Alberto Lopez (30-3. 17 KOs). Ten months later, Warrington was forward previous to his seventh-round knockout loss versus WBA featherweight title Leigh Wooden final Oct. 7 in his most up-to-date combat.
Cacace-Warrington is one in every of six fights on the UK debut of Riyadh Season. The present will air stay on DAZN Pay-Per-View. IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) makes an attempt his first protection versus former two-time unified titleholder Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) in the primary occasion. A venue report crowd of greater than 96,000 is predicted.
