Belfast's Cacace beats Wood with ninth-round TKO

Belfast's Anthony Cacace retained his IBO super-featherweight title with a ninth-round stoppage of Leigh Wood at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena on Saturday.

It was a gripping battle which appeared on a knife-edge until Cacace made the big breakthrough and he was in no mood to let the home favourite off the hook.

Wood is noted for his powers of recovery, highlighted by his remarkable come-from-behind victory over Michael Conlan three years ago in the same venue, but this time it was beyond him with Cacace ruthlessly closing the show as Wood's corner threw the towel just as it seemed referee John Latham was about to wave it off.

After the victory, the 36-year-old's record now stands at 24 wins and one defeat from 25 fights.

Wood began confidently off the jab as he sought to assert himself, but was snapped back on a couple of occasions from Cacace's right hands and again towards the end of the opener as there was a sense that either man could land something decisive.

Neither could afford to get reckless as there was clear respect between the pair, but Wood walked into a right hand in the second which made him think twice but did get his best shot off right in the dying seconds as he found a home for his own right hand which brought a respectful nod from Cacace.

They landed simultaneously in the third before Cacace appeared to make the first bit of a dent as he got through with one of his trademark uppercuts and after briefly switching to southpaw, thumped home a left hand which seemed to drive Wood back, but then was caught late in the round when missing the target and was punished by a counter.

There was an air of tension as the fight proceeded with neither getting too greedy, although Wood enjoyed a good fourth as he found his range that bit more.

It remained on a knife-edge in the fifth with Cacace making a good start as his stiff jab was rocking Wood's head back, but the Nottingham man responded well to have his own success with Cacace again switching stances.

Heading into the second half of the fight, Cacace perhaps had grabbed some momentum with a good sixth round as he got through with another of those uppercuts and seemed to be opening up by putting punches together, but was caught in the seventh when switching stances.

Early in the eighth, Cacace suffered a setback with blood beginning to pour from the nose and Wood sensed he may be making a breakthrough of his own, but was made to eat a solid left up close as they began to trade late on.

Wood sought a fast start to the ninth but it proved his undoing as, perhaps getting a little too excited, he left himself exposed and Cacace pounced and sent home a right hand which appeared to have a delayed reaction as Wood stumbled backwards and with the ropes keeping him up, referee Latham gave the count.

Cacace wasn't letting him off the hook as he meticulously broke his resistance, thudding home some shots and the towel came in from his corner after 2.15 of the round to save him from an inevitable KO.

Earlier in the night, Lisburn's Kurt Walker tasted defeat for the first time as he fell to a points defeat against Liam Davies in their battle for the vacant IBF International featherweight title.

The scorecards read 117-111, 115-113 and 116-112 in favour of Davies who was returning to action for the first time since his own maiden defeat when out-pointed by Shabaz Masoud last November at super-bantamweight.

This time, he managed to get the job done in a close contest where perhaps he just seemed to be getting the better of it despite a good final push from Walker.