Michael Conlan is backing Anthony Cacace to stop Leigh Wood when the two super-featherweights meet this weekend.
IBO world champion Cacace will defend his title against Wood at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham on Saturday. Conlan is no stranger to either fighter, having sparred with Cacace in recent weeks and having lost to Wood after a brutal battle in 2022.
Now, Conlan believes that “Anto” will prove too much for his former opponent.
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Conlan told The Independent: “I think Anto wins, and I think he wins by knockout, for a few simple reasons. Anto at the minute is riding the crest of the wave. He’s been very active, looking good, and he’s just won his world title. He hasn’t taken much damage through his career.”
He went on: “He’s had some good fights, but he wasn’t very active through his whole career until the last year or so. Leigh hasn’t fought since October 2023. His last fight was against Josh Warrington, which I think that he was losing until he got the knockout.”
Cacace’s last bout also came against Warrington, with the Irishman dominating for a unanimous decision victory in September of last year. Nicknamed “Apache”, his stock rose considerably after he shocked Joe Cordina to take the IBF super-featherweight title last May, a belt he has since relinquished in order to choose more lucrative fights.
Cacace has never been knocked down as a professional, and Conlan does not think the southpaw has even been dropped in training.
He said: “I think he has a good chin and in my opinion is the better technical boxer, but he also punches hard. The odds are in his favour.”
Conlan knows better than most that Wood is able to dig deep and find a knockout, but the Belfast-born fighter believes the Englishman will be unable to repeat the trick once again.
“Leigh, he’s pulled it off a few times,” he said, “but there’s only so many times you can go to the well, and I don’t think that it’s going to happen this time. He’s fighting a much-fresher man. They both punch hard, so it’s about who’s the better boxer and who has the better chin.”
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And Conlan does not think Leigh’s chin is the best. “I’m not a massive puncher,” he said. “I can punch hard, but I’m not a massive puncher, and I had Leigh a few times in that fight. Anto could hurt him, and could take him out. That’s what I think will happen.”
The fight is taking place at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, Wood’s home territory.
However, Conlan does not believe home comforts will be enough to swing the fight in Wood’s favour.
He said: “He’s the kind of fighter that needs the fans to lift him off the ground and keep going, I suppose, but when I fought him in Nottingham, I thought I was fighting in Ireland because there were that many Irish there. The arena was split in half, and I know a lot of my fans were buying tickets off his page.”
Conlan conceded that whilst late bloomer Cacace may not bring as many supporters across from Ireland, his fellow Belfast boxer will be undisturbed by fighting in hostile conditions.
He said: “Anto definitely won’t bring as many fans, because he’s only just got to the stage now where he is a big name after being so inactive. There will be a lot of the arena against him. But at the same time, Anto is not that type of guy, he doesn’t need a crowd.”
Conlan also noted that Cacace has fought all around the world – from Ireland to Hungary, Saudi Arabia and the US. “I don’t think it’ll bother him,” Conlan said. “I think he’ll actually thrive on being in enemy territory, and getting a victory.”
While Conlan will be keeping an eye on proceedings at the Motorpoint Arena, his current focus is breaking back into contention following defeats at the hands of Luis Alberto Lopez and Jordan Gill.
After no fights in 2024, he returned to the ring in March, comfortably dispatching an awkward customer in the form of Asad Asif Khan via unanimous decision.
“It was always going to be a tune-up, first fight back after back-to-back losses,” explained the 33-year-old. “Khan’s tough and he’s durable, and he can be very tricky. It was a good routine victory to get back on the horse after two back-to-back defeats.”
Conlan is already targeting an Irish homecoming later this year, with European honours on the line.
He continued: “My next fight, most likely, will be in Ireland, and most likely will be for the European title.
A world amateur champion in 2015, Conlan still harbours ambitions of winning a world title in the pro ranks.
“The plan probably wasn’t to go for the European title in my second fight,” he says. “I was probably going to have another warm-up fight, but I thought, ‘What’s the point in that?’ I want to get back to a world-title shot. I’m no spring chicken, I’m 33 now. It’s not like I’ve got loads of time left in the game. I’m no fool to that.”
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