Cacace-Nunez Purse Bid Postponed (and Fight Delay Appears Likely, Too)
Jun 25, 2024 • 7:45 PM ET
The Anthony Cacace-Eduardo Nunez IBF junior-lightweight purse bid has been moved back to July 2, although it increasingly appears Cacace will move to avoid a fighter considered the division’s boogeyman.
An individual familiar with the tone of the discussions said the Nunez team is braced for newly crowned champion Cacace (22-1, 8 KOs) to veer toward requesting an exception to instead make his first title defense on the coming Sept. 21 card at Wembley Stadium.
Northern Ireland’s Cacace, 35, was treated to a hero’s homecoming in Belfast upon defeating Joe Cordina for the IBF’s 130-pound belt May 18 on the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury undercard.
The Ring reported the possible Wembley opponent under the planned Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois heavyweight main event would be England’s Zelfa Barrett (31-2, 17 KOs) and that the purse-bid event could very well be canceled between now and July 2.
How Cacace would remedy Nunez is unclear since the IBF doesn’t permit step-aside fee arrangements.
Mexico’s Nunez (27-1, 27 KOs) would instead bide his time while possessing a 17-fight victory and knockout streak. He has been off since a February victory.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
