Dickens vs Cacace Predictions: Jazza aims to catch ‘Apache’, if he can

James ‘Jazza’ Dickens defends his WBA super featherweight championship against Anthony Cacace this Saturday, March 14 (DAZN). The 3Arena in Dublin will play host to this tasty tussle.

Champion Dickens saw his interim status upgraded in December. Jazza enters his first bout as a full world champion against the ex-IBF kingpin Cacace, who never lost that title in the ring. Read on for my Dickens vs Cacace predictions ahead of a thrilling Anglo-Irish dust-up.

Dickens vs Cacace Odds

Jazza is 23/10 to retain his newly-minted championship belt with a win. Cacace comes in as 2/5 favourite while the draw is marketed at 12/1.

Dickens vs Cacace Fight Preview

These men’s careers share a similar recent vein. It is fair to say that Dickens and Cacace were both unexpected world champions. 

Dickens’ ascension came with a fourth-round upset over heavily-favoured 12-0 Russian Albert Batyrgaziev. Cacace disrupted the hierarchy by annexing the IBF belt against 17-0 Welsh wonder Joe Cordina. Unexpected champions? Yes. Deserving champions? You bet.

As is often the case with overnight success, the real grind that leads to it is unseen rather than nonexistent. Dickens had suffered for his art at the brutal hands of pound-for-pounder Guillermo Rigondeaux, succumbing in two rounds back in 2016. Kid Galahad stopped the Scouser out on his way to world titles. 

Fighters like Dickens, and Cacace for that matter, have to reach the top by doing things they aren’t supposed to. The gilded path of a freshly turned-over Olympian is not offered to these men. Dickens had to battle for his chance by beating boxers who were assumed to have the measure of him. Ask Leigh Wood, Ryan Walsh and Zelfa Barrett whether they ever felt like they had the measure of the man.

Upset the applecart enough times and eventually you get offered an orchard. Dickens seized his long-shot opportunity against Olympic gold medalist Batyrgaziev. The Liverpool campaigner is a nightmare on nights like that. Compact and energetic in the southpaw. Happy to punish you for trying to close him down. A barrage in the fourth separated the underdog Brit and the fancied Russian. The belt came back to Merseyside.

Cacace had to wait until the age of 35 to finally become a recognised world champion. The Belfast battler was the British super featherweight champion before going the IBO route. The lightly-regarded belt was won with on points over undefeated Michael Magnesi in Manchester and defended against former Polish champion Damian Wrzesinski in Belfast.

The IBO’s middling rep accounted for Cacace being the underdog against Cordina when the two met in Riyadh in May 2024. The IBF champion was a former European amateur champion and Commonwealth Games bronze medalist. Cacace didn’t care, taking Cordina’s ‘0’ and his belt with a rousing eighth-round TKO.

Cacace cemented his reputation as a cleansing fire among British super featherweights when he beat Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood. Shades of Steve Collins, from Saturday’s fight-town of Dublin, and his 90s clear-out of Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank. 

Cacace vacated his IBF belt to pursue the Wood fight. The sanctioning body had already demurred on sanctioning the Warrington win as a title match. Cacace was left with a choice; fight mandatory challenger Eduardo 'Sugar' Nunez or fight British legend Wood for significantly more money. Cacace opted for the fight that would sell over the fight for the belt. He remains a major force in the division no matter the hardware around his waist.

This fight would be mouth-watering even without a title on the line. But the pull of the WBA strap does add to what should be a barn-burner in Dublin. One of the great fight cities is about to welcome two more warriors into the pantheon.

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Dickens vs Cacace Prediction

Two southpaws collide here, negating the awkwardness each man customarily causes for their opponents. I think range will play a huge role here. 

Cacace has a long 71-inch reach, particularly rangy for this weight class. The Irishman is 5’10, five inches taller than his foe. If the former IBF boss can keep this one at range, I think he can pick off Dickens for a decision win at 7/5. 

The greatest threat to this is how Dickens fares on the inside. Can the WBA champion make this a war of attrition? I think he will, to a point. But I reckon Cacace’s physical advantages and focus will see him through to a second world title.

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