British super-featherweight champion Anthony Cacace’s long-awaited defence against Lyon Woodstock has officially been added to the Jamel Herring-Carl Frampton undercard on February 27.
The domestic clash was supposed to take place last summer but was postponed due to Belfast’s Cacace being hospitalised after suffering an infection following dental surgery.
“Thank God it has all cleared up and now I’m ready to rock against Lyon,” said Cacace (18-1, 7 KOs). “The break has done me well and I’m just as hungry as ever. I know what I have to do against Lyon and I am coming over to do it.
“I know exactly what he brings, but I am well capable of knocking Lyon out. That’s because I won’t have to go looking for him. He is just there, loves a tear-up. His style is to break opponents down. That plays into my hands. I think people will enjoy this one.”
The crowd-pleasing Woodstock insists he will not be derailed by the seven-month delay and believes an entertaining clash is all but guaranteed.
“When things kept being put on and falling through, put on again and falling through – this is the third time I have been in camp for this fight – at the beginning it was a little bit demoralising, but you’ve just got to find that time and energy in yourself to keep moving forward,” said Leicester’s Woodstock (12-2, 5 KOs).
“Like I was the first time, I am still really excited about this fight and it is the biggest opportunity of my life. With the two losses I have got on my record [Archie Sharp and Zelfa Barrett] people could say ‘he doesn’t deserve this’, but if you look at my resume I’ve not ducked anyone and I am always in good fights. I fight good people, good opposition.
“I know Cacace is a fighting man and I have a lot of respect for him and what he did in coming to Birmingham and taking the title from [Sam] Bowen. I am not in boring fights and everyone knows what you get with me. I’ve seen Cacace say he won’t have to come looking for me – and he is not wrong!”
Light-heavyweight prospect Tommy Fury will also return on a packed bill that includes unbeaten super-flyweight Kaisy Khademi meeting Birmingham’s Ijaz Ahmed. Meanwhile, Stoke middleweight Nathan Heaney faces Ryan Oliver whilst unbeaten lightweights Sam Noakes and Delmar Thomas also collide.
A trio of pro debuts complete the card, with former ABA champion Masood Abdulah set to introduce himself over four rounds at super-featherweight in addition to Amaar Akbar at super-lightweight and Adan Mohamed at super-bantamweight.