Despite entering the fight as the WBA super-featherweight champion, Liverpool’s James “Jazza” Dickens will begin his March 14 title defence against Ireland’s Anthony Cacace as the pre-fight underdog.
That the fight takes place in Dublin will have something to do with that, of course, but it’s just as likely Dickens is the underdog because he has always been one. He was an underdog on his way up, he was an underdog when people wrote him off, and he is an underdog even now, when in a purple patch with a world title to his name.
But not to worry. Ask Dickens, in fact, and he will tell you the role of underdog suits him just fine.
“I’m always the underdog,” he said at a press conference this afternoon in Dublin. “But I’m not the underdog in my mind, and that’s all that matters. I’d rather be the underdog with the bookies than in my own head. I can’t really be f****ed.”
In Cacace, he fights a 36-year-old from Belfast who, like Dickens himself, is in a rich vein of form. Unbeaten for almost a decade, Cacace has, since losing against Martin J Ward in 2017, won the British and IBF and IBO super-featherweight titles and claimed the scalps of Leigh Wood (stopped in nine rounds), Josh Warrington (outpointed over 12) and Joe Cordina (stopped in eight) along the way.
“I’m yet to watch Anto,” confessed Dickens, 36-5 (15 KOs). “I’ve seen highlights of him blasting people out, but I’ve yet to watch him. I’ve got to sit down with my coach and put a game plan together.”
Though for now he remains unfamiliar with the way Cacace fights, Dickens, 34, can tell by the way the Irishman carries himself that they will get along well. They will get along well during their various press conferences and faceoffs and then, more importantly, they will get along well on fight night, when most expect the pair to deliver one of the best fights of the year.
“The respect is unbelievable,” said Dickens. “This feels like a homecoming to me, even though I’m coming from Liverpool. I’m very blessed to be in this position. It’s great to see Ireland thriving. Look at the city of Dublin and it’s a shame the boxing hasn’t been here. Although the boxing hasn’t been here, you’ve still got all the amateur clubs putting the work in. It’s nearly been here, time and time again, and now it’s great to see it back. I’m very proud of the city and class it as a second home.”
As for Cacace, he was just as respectful to Dickens as Dickens was to him. He too saw no reason to act up, make wild predictions, or come over unnecessarily confrontational. After all, Cacace knows that the kind of fight he and Dickens are offering on March 14 shouldn’t require too much in the way of selling. He also knows that Dickens is not only a champion after his own heart, but perhaps the toughest opponent he will have faced in his 14-year professional career.
“Listening to him talk here, he’s very passionate and he’s a holy man,” said Cacace, 24-1 (9 KOs). “I know he’s a good fella as well and a great fighter. I think this will easily be my hardest fight to date. Jazza is a WBA world champion, and that’s something we all dream of. I go into every fight thinking that if I have to die in the ring, I’ll die. I feel like Jazza is the exact same as me. It makes for an absolute war. We’re going to give you a night to remember, one hundred per cent.”
