Anthony Cacace continued his superb run of form with a ninth-round stoppage of Leigh Wood in Nottingham.
The Northern Irishman, 36, is enjoying the best spell of his career, having beaten Joe Cordina and Josh Warrington in 2024, and he picked up another victory over a domestic rival here with a dominant display.
It was billed as a potential fight-of-the-year contender and while it was not necessarily an all-action affair from the first bell, Cacace boxed superbly and was on top throughout as Wood, a two-time featherweight world champion, stepped up to super-featherweight for the first time.
Cacace went through the gears in the sixth round, snapping Wood’s head back with the jab and whipping in a flurry of left hooks, but there was some encouragement in the eighth for Wood in front of his home fans when a cut opened up on Cacace’s cheek and blood starting to come from his nose.
But, a round later, it was all over. Wood was given a standing count after he was sent staggering back into the ropes by a flush left hook, and Cacace did not let up. Two huge right uppercuts were followed by a left to the body, leaving Wood almost defenceless.
He turned his back on Cacace and jogged away, as Wood’s corner threw in the towel to save their man from further punishment.
Cacace vacated his IBF super-featherweight world title at the start of the year as he opted to pursue the biggest fights rather than fulfil his mandatory requirements, and he made it clear that remains his priority.
IT'S ALL OVER!!! 🤯
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 10, 2025
Anthony Cacace STOPS Leigh Wood‼️#CacaceWood | Live NOW on DAZN pic.twitter.com/HHBd3HQId0
"I took this fight solely for money,” Cacace said.
“The money was double. Show me the money, I will travel anywhere. My time is now.”
He added: "I put a lot of pressure on myself. I had nothing but negative feelings coming in here but I've fought three two-time world champions.
"Leigh's had a long time off. I didn't beat the best Leigh Wood but I beat Leigh Wood and I appreciate Nottingham, thank you for inviting me here, you're a great crowd."
Wood was fighting for the first time in 19 months, having last been in action when producing a dramatic stoppage win over Warrington in 2023.
Questions will now inevitably be asked about the 36-year-old’s future in the sport, but Wood pushed those back for another day.
"I don't know, I'm not going to make a decision on the spot,” he said.
“We'll see. We'll have a talk. I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight, thanks for bringing the noise and sorry to disappoint."
Earlier in the night, Liam Davies bounced back from his defeat to Shabaz Masoud in November last year, when he lost his IBO super-bantamweight title, with an impressive win over Kurt Walker.
Stepping up to 126lbs for the first time, Davies controlled the bout behind his jab and had it scored 117-111, 115-113 and 116-112 in his favour against the previously unbeaten Walker.
Ezra Taylor went the full ten rounds with Troy Jones in an entertaining light-heavyweight bout, as he won by unanimous decision in front of his home fans in Nottingham.
Chris Kongo suffered a frustrating night, though, falling to the third defeat of his professional career. He had appeared to be in control of his fight with Owen Cooper at the halfway stage, but Cooper came on strong and took charge to win it 96-94 on the referee’s card.
