Anthony Kakas is expected to relinquish his IBF super featherweight title to fight Lee Wood. The IBF belt will become vacant for No. 1 Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez (27-1, 27 KO) and No. 3 Masanori Rikish (16-1, 11 KO) to fight for it.
It makes sense for the 35-year-old Kakas (23-1, 8 KOs) to relinquish the IBF title to fight former two-time WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood (28-3, 17 KOs) because it is a fight that will pay well for Anthony.
Is it Nunez's time to shine?
Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez has looked impressive, knocking out his last 17 opponents since suffering his only career defeat to Hiram Gallardo via a six-round unanimous decision in June 20018. In Nunez's last four fights, he has knocked out Miguel Marriaga, Oscar Escandon, Jesus Martin Sica, and Wilmank. Canonico Britto.
It's hard to know how good a 30-year-old eight-year pro Rikish is, because he has fought little-known opposition throughout his career in his native Japan. He lost once as a pro, but was fighting under the radar against opposition that most fans had never heard of. This is not a good sign.
Little chance of success
The 13-year-old professional Cacace's chances of success against “Sugar” Nunez were slim to none due to the Mexican fighter's strength, youth, and aggressiveness. Cacace vs. Nunez wasn't a big payday, and the result will likely be bad for him.
Last year, Casasi defeated IBF 130-pound champion Joe Cordina, destroying him in eight rounds on May 18 in Riyadh. The fight wasn't even remotely close, as Cacace was too fast and too busy for Cordina who drained her weight in that contest. Casassi dropped Cordina in the third round, and looked like he never recovered from it.
In Cacace's last fight, he defeated former featherweight champion Josh Warrington via a 12-round unanimous decision on September 21 on the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois undercard at Wembley Arena in London.
I watched the fight, and Cacace seemed to take Warrington easily, staying in second gear throughout the contest and not giving him the same rough treatment he had to Cordina in his previous fight. If this was what the game was like, it was a nice gesture on Cakas' part because Warrington looked completely on target. He would have folded up like a cheap suit if Cassassi had attacked him like he did to Cordina all night.
“With Anthony Kakas expected to vacate the IBF belt to face former champion Lee Wood, the super featherweight belt will be decided by a bout between top seed Eduardo Nunes and Japan's third seed Masanori Rikishi, I'm told,” Lance Pugmire said. X.
