Anthony Cacace will make the first defence of his WBA super-featherweight world title against Nick Ball at The 02 in Belfast on 19 December.
The 37-year-old from Belfast won the title in March with a factors victory of James ‘Jazza’ Dickens in Dublin and will face another Liverpool native in former featherweight champion Ball.
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Cacace’s last struggle in his home metropolis occurred in May 2023 with a defence of the IBO belt against Damian Wrzesinski on the undercard of Luis Alberto Lopez’s featherweight title victory over Michael Conlan.
Since then, he has won and then relinquished the IBF title before changing into a two-time champion at the weight with victory over Dickens which saw his document improve to 25 wins with one loss.
“Nick’s a great fighter, ex-world champion, so I expect a good scrap. He’s a hard man, so let’s do it,” Cacace instructed DAZN.
“I’ll fight with him, I’ll box him – whatever way he wants, so we’ll see what happens on the night. I’m really looking forward to it.
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“Belfast around Christmas time is going to be leaping, so I’m wanting ahead to it.”
Ball is coming off his first profession defeat when stopped in the remaining spherical by Brandon Figueroa in a defence of the WBA featherweight title in February.
The Liverpudlian won the title in 2024 with a factors verdict over Raymond Ford, three months after his first bid for world honours ended in a draw against then-WBC champion Rey Vargas.
He fought on the same Belfast card as Cacace in 2023 when stopping Ludumo Lamati, who suffered a stroke in the ring but has since recovered, and is relishing the probability to become a two-weight champion.
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“It’s a large alternative at a new weight,” said Ball, whose record is 23-1-1.
“He’s a strong champion, so it’s going to be a good struggle. I’ll be coming, he’ll be coming, so it’s going to be a good one.”
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