Rather than face mandatory challenger Ricardo “Sugar” Nunez, IBF super featherweight champion Anthony Cacace announced that he’s vacated the belt in favor of chasing “the biggest fights possible.
He technically ends his reign, which began with a controversial knockout of Joe Cordina last May, without a title defense. The IBF immediately ordered him to fight Nunez (27-1, 27 KO), who’d beaten down Shavkat Rakhimov in a final eliminator, but Cacace (23-1, 8 KO) elected to fight Josh Warrington instead.
As Warrington was 1-3-1 in his previous five and had never fought at 130, the IBF declined to sanction it as a defense and once again ordered the Nunez fight late last year. The two sides reached enough of a deal to stave off a purse bid, but after a lengthy bit of radio silence, Cacace’s decided not to honor it.
Eddie Hearn justifiably went off on Cacace for wasting a chunk of Nunez’s prime. It’s frankly pathetic behavior from “The Apache,” who should have been stripped the second he picked Warrington.
The good news is that, per Jake Donovan, a vacant title fight between Nunez and Masanori Rikiishi (16-1, 11 KO) is “eyed for this spring in Japan.” Any Nunez fight is worth watching, but this one especially could be something special.