Christmas Pary – Cacace Expects Belfast to be Jumping for Ball Defence

Anthony Cacace is expecting Belfast to be “jumping” when he defends his WBA super-featherweight world title against Nick Ball.

The Belfast fighter will make the first defence of the title he won when defeating ‘Jazza’ Dickens in Dublin in March when he takes on former WBA featherweight champion Ball at The O2 on December 19.

‘The Apache’ has not fought in his home city since May 2023, when he defeated Damian Wrzesinski on the undercard of Luis Alberto Lopez’s victory over Michael Conlan – and has never headlined in Belfast.

Now, after becoming a two-time world champion at 130lbs, the 37-year-old is relishing the prospect of returning to the boxing capital of Europe for a major world title fight.

“Nick’s a great fighter, ex-world champion, so I expect a good scrap. He’s a hard man, so let’s do it,” Cacace told DAZN.

“I’ll fight with him, I’ll box him – whatever way he wants, so we’ll see what happens on the night. I’m really looking forward to it,” he added.

Cacace also believes the timing of the fight could make his homecoming even more special, with the bout taking place just days before Christmas.

“Belfast around Christmas time is going to be jumping, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Ball will be looking to bounce back from the first defeat of his career when he moves up to super-featherweight.

The Liverpool fighter lost his WBA featherweight title to Brandon Figueroa in February after being stopped in the final round, ending an unbeaten professional run which had seen him defeat Raymond Ford to become world champion in 2024.

“It’s a massive opportunity at a new weight,” he said.

“He’s a solid champion, so it’s going to be a good fight. I’ll be coming, he’ll be coming, so it’s going to be a good one.”