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Anthony Cacace vs Leigh Wood: Who has the edge heading into their fight?
Two former world champions are vowing a fire Fight of the Year this weekend, when Anthony Cacace clashes with Leigh Wood in super featherweight action at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, United Kingdom, and live on DAZN .
Both Cacace and Wood are coming off victories over a common opponent in Josh Warrington, a two-time featherweight ruler. Cacace produced a unanimous decision over Warrington in September, while Wood stopped "The Leeds Warrior" in seven round prior to that in October 2023.
With both Cacace and Wood comfortable in the pocket, this fight should thrill. That said, DAZN News analyzes both fighters across three key categories to see who has the edge heading into their bout.
Boxing styles
Watch Anthony Cacace’s win over Josh Warrington and you will see how the southpaw Belfast warrior has snap to his punches whether it is loading up on the hook, cranking an uppercut or splitting the guard with a left hand.
Watch Leigh Wood’s win over Warrington and one will note the English fighter’s patience, calculation and power before detonating his punch selection from the outside.
The fact that both Cacace and Wood are so comfortable in the phonebooth is part of the reason Frank Warren vowed during the press conference “I’m telling you, this will be Fight of the Year. It has Fight of the Year written all over it.”
The slightest edge goes to Cacace who has a four-inch reach advantage as a southpaw.
Edge: Cacace
(Getty Images)
Power
Cacace said it himself about Wood: “He’s got power in both hands.”
Where Cacace needed the distance to produce his unanimous decision over Warrington, Wood buzzed down and finished “The Leeds Warrior” in seven rounds by generating pounding hooks.
Wood also touts the higher knockout percentage with 17 of his 31 fights ending by the way knockout to Cacace’s eight of 24 bouts won by knockout.
Edge: Wood
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Mental Warfare
There is plenty of respect between these fighters but of course that will be thrown to the side Saturday at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Part of their press conference had Wood boasting how he always finds a way against his opponents whether it was incessant work rates of Warrington or Xu Can or discarding of Michael Conlan’s boxing ability with power, or coming back to edge the puncher in Mauricio Lara.
Plus, he is getting up for this challenge, coming in as the slight underdog against Cacace.
“I’m looking for the challenge of going out there and strangling the confidence out of him round by round,” Wood said.
Perhaps the edge in mental warfare can come with Cacace’s being more active lately with his 2024 wins over Warrington and Joe Cordina. Wood last beat Warrington in October 2023, signalling a longer layoff.
Edge: Cacace
Who has the edge in Cacace vs Wood?
Cacace said it best during the press conference: “I genuinely believe it’s going to be a war from the start.”
DAZN News has Cacace with a 2-1 edge here but it is razor-thin .
This could very well be a 50-50 fight that thrills as promised.
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