‘This is a homecoming I’ve been wanting for a long time’ – Anto Cacace
IT has been over eight years since Anto Cacace fought in Belfast and at this week’s public workout, the IBO World Super Featherweight champion said he’s delighted to be back home.
Speacking to Boxing Tickets NI the Apache said, “I’ve got to be honest, I’m loving being back. The reception here, my family, my children right here, it’s amazing. I’m used to jumping on a plane, going somewhere else, being in strange surroundings, whereas now I’m at home. It’s just a wee bit weird but lovely at the same time, it’s really enjoyable, good to see familiar faces and having these people out supporting me.
“I’m buzzing, this is a homecoming I’ve been wanting for a long time. I have to say thanks to Conlan Boxing and Queensbury for doing this for me. It’s in God’s hands now, I’ve done all the hard training, what will be will be.”
If he wins this weekend it could open the door for a chance at an IBF title, he feels. “All being well if I win this fight I should be mandatory for the IBF. That’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long, long time. It’d be lovely to fight for it and I guarantee I’ll do everything in my power to win no matter what. I’ll fight to the death.”
He says he has too much for his Polish opponent Damian Wrzesinski. “He’s been messaging me on instagram for about months now, since I won the title. Nothing but respectful, but it’s fight time now. Yes, I respect him and all, but I’m going to beat him and beat him bad, do my job, what I’ve trained to do. All props to him, he’s a good fighter, I’ll take nothing away from him. This is boxing and anything can happen but I believe that I’m the better man and I’m going to come out of here victorious.”
Setbacks up to now haven’t derailed him, and he says he is in a great place. “I’ve had bad days, but bad days have led to now. It’s all positive from here, I am where I am now because of all those times that have defined me. All them bad times, times when I had no fights and whatever else, they’ve helped me, helped me be who I am today and I’m just raring to go. Forget about the past, concentrate on the future, and the future is now.”
