IBO World Featherweight champion Anthony ‘Anto’ Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) stopped Leigh ‘Lethal’ Wood(28-4, 18 KOs) at 2:15 of the ninth round on Saturday night at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.
In the eighth round, Wood busted up the nose of Cacace and cut him on his right cheek with an elbow. That shot seemed to motivate Cacace, as he came back strong in the final 30 seconds of the round to light up Wood with repeated head-snapping shots. As the round ended, Wood had the look of a demoralized fighter. You could tell from his face that he knew he’d met his match.
In the ninth round, Cacace landed a flurry of punches ending with a left hook to the chin, driving a badly hurt Wood into the ropes. The ropes prevented Wood from falling because he would have hit the deck if they hadn’t braced him.
Referee Lathan ruled it a knockdown, giving him an 8-count. When the action resumed, Cacace landed a hard left hook to Wood’s midsection, hurting him. Wood then turned and started running across the ring. At this point, Wood’s corner threw in the towel to halt the contest. They’d seen enough and didn’t want their fighter to get finished off by Cacace. The time of the stoppage was at 2:15 of round nine. t.
In the co-feature, former British, EBU, and IBO featherweight champion Liam Davies, 17-1 (8), defeated Olympian Kurt Walker, 12-1 (2), by a 12-round unanimous decision to win the vacant IBF International Featherweight title.
In the first round, Walker countered Davies well. In the second through the fifth rounds, Davies came back well, using an effective jab, drawing blood from the nose and a welt under Walker’s right eye in the fifth round.
From the sixth through the tenth round, Davies dominated against the less experienced Walker. In the twelfth and final round, Walker tried his best but was outworked by Davies.
The scores were 117-111, 116-113, and 118-112. Steve Gray was the referee.
WBA Int’l Light Heavyweight champion Ezra ‘The Cannon’ Taylor, 12-0 (8) won a lopsided 10-round unanimous decision over Troy Jones, 12-1 (4).
In the first three rounds, Jones came forward, and Taylor, the counter-puncher, had a slight edge. In the fourth round, Taylor opened up, drawing blood from the nose of Jones. In the sixth round, referee Bob Williams took a point from Jones for using his forearm. Taylor continues to dominate.
In the eighth round’s final minute, Taylor rocked Jones with a left hook to the chin. In the ninth round’s final seconds, Taylor rocked Jones with the final punch, a right on the chin. In the tenth and final round, Taylor tried ending it with Jones holding on.
The scores were 97-94, 100-90, and 99-91.
Welterweight former English and WBO EBU champion Owen ‘The Worcester Warrior’ Cooper, 11-1 (4), defeated former IBO Intercontinental champ Chris ‘2Slick’ Congo, 17-3 (7), by an action-packed 10-round decision.
Through three rounds, the shorter Cooper used an effective jab while Congo countered well. In the fifth round, the taller Congo landed right uppercuts to the chin of Cooper throughout.
In the sixth and seventh rounds, Cooper used a two-fisted attack, only getting countered on occasions. In the ninth round, though winning it, Cooper was bleeding from the mouth. It was a war in the tenth and final round with all on the line. Congo’s mouthpiece went out in the final minute for the second time.
Referee Kevin Parker scored it 96-94.
Super Lightweight Sam Noakes, 17-0 (15) stopped Patrik ‘Rocky’ Balaz, 13-5-1 (5) at 2:17 of the third round of an 8-round contest.
In the third round, Noakes landed a right on the chin, and down went Balaz for the count from Referee Chris Dean.
Heavy Lewis Williams, 2-0 (1) defeated Victar Chvarkou, 5-23 (3), by a six-round points decision.
Referee Kevin Parker scored 60-54.
Super Lightweight Huey Malone, 1-0 (0) beat Jaykub Laskowski, 5-36-1 (3) by a six-round points decision.
Referee Chris Dean scored it 60-54.
Featherweight 2024 Olympic Bronze Medalist Charlie Senior (1-0) defeated Cesar ‘Zurdo’ Ignacio Paredes (18-18-1 (5) by a six-round points decision. Referee Chris Dean scored it 59-54.
In the second round, Senior dropped Paredes for an 8-count from referee Chris Dean.
Featherweight Nico Leivars, 7-0-1 (1) beat Darwing Martinez, 8-31-2 (6) by a six-round points decision. Referee Kevin Parker scored it 60-55.
Middle Joe Tyers, 1-0) defeated Mario Valenzuela Portillo, 8-8-2 (2) by a four-round points decision. Referee Chris Dean scored 39-37.
Sper Welter Harris Akbar, 1-0 ) beat Octavian Gratti, 8-83-4 (4) by a four-round points decision. Referee Kevin Parker scored it 40-36.
The Ring Announcer was Thomas Treiber.
Last Updated on 05/10/2025
Read the full article here