Anthony Cacace vs Lyon Woodstock – Results & Post-Fight Report

After several postponements, British super featherweight champion, Anthony Cacace, defended his title for the first time with a wide points win over the brave Lyon Woodstock at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham.

The contest had been shelved three times previously, but the pair finally met at the head of affairs on this Frank Warren promoted bill.

Woodstock had slightly the better of a tight opening round, but hit Cacace well after the bell for the end of the frame, and was rightly admonished by referee, Marcus McDonnell. That fired the champion into action, and a hard right hand found the target at the start of the second, and a follow up volley of weighty shots followed, but Woodstock managed to maintain his focus and get out of trouble. The third was a battle of the jabs, but the Irishman had much the better of the exchanges, stopping Lyon in his tracks.

A well timed big left hook had Woodstock on the floor at the start of round four, but the timing decked the challenger more than anything, and he comfortably beat the count in what was a 10-8 round for ‘The Apache’. Woodstock’s woes continued as a cut opened on his right eye in the fifth, but he did have an encouraging sixth, connecting with a flush left hook that got Cacace’s attention. The seventh was a closer affair, but Cacace upped the ante in round eight, nailing Woodstock with a stiff right hand as the Leicester man rushed in, and the ninth saw more of the same, with Cacace slipping shots and landing uppercuts in a contest that he was controlling.

The champion was switch hitting with ease, and Woodstock’s face was showing considerable damage, but he gamely battled on, his gumshield removed in a fiece attack by Cacace, who was oozing confidence and assured of victory as he dropped his hands and peppered Woodstock off his almost unavoidable jab. The final frame was a brave one from Woodstock, who came forward and threw multiple shots, but try as he might, he couldn’t find the fight changing punches that he desperately needed, and the fight went to the scorecards.

Two scores of 117-110, and a third at 117-111 ensured Cacace remained as champion.

Anthony Yarde was never expected to be taken many rounds by Columbian Alex Theran, and it took the Londoner less than a round to force a halt to the contest. Yarde whipped in a hurtful left to the body that floored Theran, who did well to beat the count, but the end was seconds in coming, another body shot forcing the visitor out of the fight. Yarde moves a step closer to a rematch with Lyndon Arthur, who defeated him in their original meeting in December 2020 via split decision.

Sam Maxwell became the new British and Commonwealth super lightweight champion, as he dethroned Akeem Ennis-Brown via unanimous decision in what was a scrappy affair. The pair were involved in a heated war of words in the build up, but it was the Liverpudlian that reigned victorious in what looked like a slightly fortunate nod. Ennis-Brown seemed to take the middle rounds with his busy, hard to hit style, but he tired down the stretch, hurt in the final two frames by some heavy fire from the challenger. Two scores of 116-113, and a third at 115-114 gave Maxwell the win, but in truth, the result could have gone either way.

In a rematch of an February 2021 thriller, Quaise Khademi and Ijaz Ahmed couldn’t be separated, and the British super flyweight title remained vacant, as the pair fought to a split draw. Ahmed won their original meeting by majority decision, with the contest a difficult one to adjudge a winner over ten rounds. The rounds in the sequel were just as difficult to score, as both men took turns to go on the attack throughout, and in the end, one verdict of 115-114 for Khademi, and one for Ahmed at 115-113 was rendered redundant by a 114-114 card. A trilogy fight would be most welcome.

Nathan Heaney sent his legion of fans home to Stoke happy, as ‘The Hitman’ knocked out Konstantin Alexandrov in the fifth round of their scheduled middleweight ten rounder. A right hand to the body forced the Bulgarian to the canvas, and he was unable to answer the referee’s count of ten.

Reigning English bantamweight champion, Liam Davies, ticked over on the bill, and the Telford native halted Ghana’s Raymond Commey in two rounds. Davies connected with a massive left hook that had Commey in deep trouble, and a follow up right hand floored him heavily. The referee wisely called the contest off during the count.

George Bance moved to 2-0 with a shutout win at super lightweight against MJ Hall over four rounds.

Ethan ‘Jammy’ James brought a large following with him from Northampton, and he sent his fans home happy with a landslide points win over six against Matar Sambou. Referee Shaun Messer scored the contest 60-54 in James’ favour.

Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor moved to 2-0 in the paid ranks, as he won every round of his four rounder with Ben Thomas.