James Dickens vs Anthony Cacace Preview March 14th, 2021
WBA Junior Lightweight Champion James Dickens of England defends his belt for the first time when he meets former IBO and IBF Super Featherweight Champion Anthony Cacace of Belfast, Northern Ireland this Saturday, March 14th. The 12-rounder from Dublin, Ireland can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Cacace last saw action in May when he stopped Leigh Wood to retain the IBO Super Featherweight Belt. Cacace stopped IBF Champion Joe Cordina in the eighth round in an upset in 2024, but gave it up after deciding to face Wood instead of defending the crown against Eduardo Nunez. He kept his IBO Title though and beat former world champion Josh Warrington by unanimous decision before meeting Wood. Dickens last fought in July when he halted Albert Batyrgaziev in the fourth round in an upset.
Dickens vs Cacace Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- James Dickens +195
- Anthony Cacace -260
My Pick
The 34-year-old Dickens of Liverpool is a southpaw who enters the bout with a mark of of 36-5 with 15 Ko’s. He made his pro debut in 2011 and has boxed 262 rounds since. He enjoyed a fine amateur career and as a pro has also captured the English and British Super Bantamweight Titles as well as the IBF, and WBO European Featherweight Titles and the IBO World version. He employs a quick and aggressive style but doesn’t really possess too much in the way of power as 41.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage including three of his past five. He measures 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 63-inch reach
Dickens’ first defeat came at the hands of Kid Galahad when he was stopped in the 10th round in 2013 in a shot at the vacant British Super Bantamweight Belt. He was halted by Guillermo Rigondeaux after two rounds in 2016 in a shot at the WBA Super Bantamweight title when he suffered a broken jaw. He also lost his next fight 10 months later by 10-round technical decision to Thomas Patrick Ward. The fight went to the scorecards after Ward suffered a cut eye due to an accidental head butt.
Dickens bounced back with eight straight wins but then met Galahad in a rematch in 2021 and was stopped in the 11th round. He suffered his last defeat in 2023 when hector Andres Sosa stopped him in the 10th round to take his IBO Featherweight Title. Dickens biggest wins have been against Jon Fernandes, Josh Wale, Martin Ward, Nathaniel May, Carlos Ramos, Leigh Wood, Lerato Dlamini, Ryan Walsh and Zelfa Barrett.
The 37-year-old Cacace is also southpaw who makes the ring walk with an impressive mark of 24-1 with 9 Ko’s and has 164 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2012 following his amateur days. As an amateur he won the Ulster Championships in 2008 and 2009 and made the final of the 2008 Irish National Championships and won the 2007 Irish Under-19 championships. He measures 5-feet-10-inches tall but has an unlisted reach so is five inches taller than Dickens.
The lone blemish on Cacace’s pro record is a 12-round unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Martin J Ward in 2017 in a shot at the British and Commonwealth Super Featherweight Titles. As far as power goes, Cacace doesn’t possess much of it either as just 37.5 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and he’s gone the distance in nine of his past 11 outings. However, he certainly displayed plenty of power in his fights against Joe Cordina and Leigh Wood in two of his last three outings.
Cacace won the British Title in 2019 via a 12-round split decision over Sam Bowen and defended it against Leon Woodstock by unanimous decision. He captured the IBO Belt in 2022 with a split decision over Michael Magnesi and defended it against Damian Wrzesinski in May, 2023 before meeting Cordina. Cacace also won the vacant British Celtic Super Featherweight Title in 2015 with a 10th-round stoppage over Ronnie Clark.
Prediction……
Both boxers appear to lack power but when it does show up it can cause some considerable damage and they’re both on a hot streak. Cacace has a big edge in height but is now 37 years of age while Dickens is 34. This should be a close, exciting affair and both men need to be at their best. Dickens has improved immensely over the last few years which makes this battle quite a tossup. No result should be a surprise here but I give Cacace a slight edge due to his chin in a close give-and-take fight.
Cacace has the stronger chin.
Play: Cacace -260 @ BetOnline.ag
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Anthony Cacace betting • James Dickens betting