Anthony Cacace’s triumph fuels Irish boxing revival as a hopeful Croke Park climax looms

DUBLIN, Ireland — Anthony Cacace became the latest protagonist in Ireland’s boxing revival Saturday night, dethroning Jazza Dickens to become a two-time super featherweight champion of the world in front of a sold-out 3Arena.

In some boxing circles, the rangy Belfast southpaw is considered the unluckiest fighter in the world due to opportunities lost over his professional tenure. It’s unlikely “Apache” will feel like he deserves that status now though, after edging the Liverpudlian stalwart Dickens in an excruciatingly close affair.

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The Queensberry event was the hottest ticket in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day weekend, but neither Cacace nor Dickens can take all the credit for that.

The talk on press row was that Irish undercard prospect Pierce O’Leary sold half of the 9,000 seats himself. Hailing from “just 200 meters down the road” from the venue, as he told reporters in the lead-up to the fight, O’Leary had the whole arena in the palm of his glove from the second his music burst through the speakers.

His opponent, Maxi Hughes, stepped up on two weeks’ notice after Mark Chamberlain withdrew from the contest. Yet, it was Hughes’ corner who withdrew their fighter after five rounds of punishment from the north-inner city boxer.

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The roar of the crowd supported the rumors of O’Leary’s salesmanship as he celebrated in the ring. Emotional after his first big win in a building he’s forecast to become very familiar with over the next few years, he was soon given a regal endorsement as pound-for-pound star Katie Taylor — the most unanimously adored athlete on the Emerald Isle — stepped through the ropes.

You could almost see the dollar signs in promoter Frank Warren’s eyes before he was interviewed in the aftermath of O’Leary’s victory. Noting the thunderous ovation and Taylor alongside him, the Queensberry headman said the magic words the city had been waiting to hear:

“Where do we go from here? Croke Park?!?”

The crowd roared their approval.

Saturday marked the fifth boxing event at Dublin’s 3Arena since Katie Taylor and Matchroom brought professional sport back to the Irish capital in 2023. Her brace of meetings with Chantelle Cameron provided ample opportunities for many on the national boxing scene. As well as that, it revived the idea of a fight being a social night out, something that hadn’t been a viable option in Dublin since Irish former champion Bernard Dunne regularly headlined the same venue nearly two decades ago.

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Irish boxing was once believed to be another victim of the Regency Hotel shooting in 2016. Ten years ago, David Byrne was killed in a botched attempt to assassinate cartel leader Daniel Kinahan during a boxing weigh-in held at the north Dublin premises. The incident was a catalyst for a violent swell in the Hutch-Kinahan gang feud, with 18 people being killed over the ensuing two years.

According to a 2023 piece in The Irish Times, boxing events were off limits within the country in the aftermath, as “[Irish police] and insurance companies have refused to sign off on any high-profile boxing events for fear of repeated violence.”

Boxing remained marred by its links to the feud as Kinahan’s MTK Global management company signed up a lot of the talent on the island. It’s worth noting that 3Arena is just a short walk from a Hutch stronghold, Sheriff Street, making the Dublin venue a potential flashpoint should an event take place putting the rival factions under the same roof.

MTK Global folded shortly after the U.S. imposed sanctions on what they called the “Kinahan Organized Crime Group” in 2022. Although the Hutch-Kinahan feud has not officially ended in the years since, its intensity has cooled significantly.

After Saturday’s event, you could have easily mistaken the sea of people making their way from 3Arena down Sheriff Street as a practice run for Tuesday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. A close-knit community, O’Leary’s neighbors will have undoubtedly raised a glass or two in his name, toasting their new champion into the early hours of Sunday morning.

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Warren’s long-term rival, Matchroom’s leading man Eddie Hearn, is presently tasked with delivering a long-awaited Croke Park climax for the Irish boxing revival he launched with Taylor. There is a growing swell in support for the Bray legend being handed a big night at the historic 82,300-seat stadium for the final bout of her storied career, and based on recent comments, Hearn is feeling the pressure.

“That’s a s***load of work to make sure that one of the greatest athletes of all time gets her ultimate dream,” said Hearn on a recent episode of “The Ariel Helwani Show.”

“And I have to deliver Croke Park [for Taylor]. I have to. If I don’t give this everything, if I don’t try my very hardest to make this a reality, I’m not doing Katie justice and I’m not doing myself justice. Because this would be the greatest sporting event ever in the history of Ireland.”

Hearn should be reminded of his new foe Dana White’s past desires to hold a Conor McGregor-led UFC event at the famous GAA ground. In their ongoing battle of oneupmanship, surely a massive combat sports event on Ireland’s most famous pitch would be a significant victory for the English promoter.

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There are some who believe that boxing, or mixed martial arts for that matter, don’t deserve a date on the hallowed turf. They don’t make the same claims about Taylor, though.

And if the queen of boxing’s Ireland homecoming in 2023 planted the seed that led to the revival of the Irish sport, who knows what fruit a farewell fight in front of 80,000 of her adoring public could bear in the future.