{"id":541268,"date":"2026-03-15T04:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T04:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/541268\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T04:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T04:19:14","slug":"anthony-cacaces-triumph-fuels-irish-boxing-revival-as-a-hopeful-croke-park-climax-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/541268\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Cacace’s triumph fuels Irish boxing revival as a hopeful Croke Park climax looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUBLIN \u2014 Anthony Cacace became the latest protagonist in Ireland\u2019s boxing revival Saturday night, dethroning Jazza Dickens to become a two-time super featherweight champion in front of a sold-out 3Arena.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s unlikely \u201cApache\u201d will feel like he deserves that status now though after edging the Liverpudlian stalwart in an excruciatingly close affair.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The talk on press row was that Irish undercard prospect Pierce O\u2019Leary sold half of the 9,000 seats himself. Hailing from \u201cjust 200 meters down the road\u201d from the venue, as he told reporters in the lead-up to the fight, O\u2019Leary had the whole arena in the palm of his glove from the second his music burst through the speakers.<\/p>\n

His opponent, Maxi Hughes, stepped up on two weeks\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The roar of the crowd supported the rumors of O\u2019Leary\u2019s salesmanship as he celebrated in the ring. Emotional after his first big win in a building he\u2019s 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<\/a> \u2014 the most unanimously adored athlete on the Emerald Isle \u2014 stepped through the ropes.<\/p>\n

\"Pierce<\/p>\n

Pierce O’Leary (center), flanked by Irish boxing star Katie Taylor, celebrates victory over Maxi Hughes at the 3Arena in Dublin.<\/p>\n

(Damien Eagers – PA Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

You could almost see the dollar signs in promoter Frank Warren\u2019s eyes before he was interviewed in the aftermath of O\u2019Leary\u2019s victory. Noting the thunderous ovation and Taylor alongside him, the Queensberry headman said the magic words the city had been waiting to hear:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere do we go from here? Croke Park?!?\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The crowd roared its approval.<\/p>\n

Saturday marked the fifth boxing event at Dublin\u2019s 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\u2019t been a viable option in Dublin since Irish former champion Bernard Dunne regularly headlined the same venue nearly two decades ago.<\/p>\n

Irish boxing was once believed to be another victim of the Regency Hotel shooting in 2016<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

According to a 2023 piece in The Irish Times<\/a>, boxing events were off limits within the country in the aftermath, as \u201c[Irish police] and insurance companies have refused to sign off on any high-profile boxing events for fear of repeated violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dublin<\/p>\n

Katie Taylor helped bring boxing back to Ireland in 2023 following the Regency Hotel shooting of 2016.<\/p>\n

(David Fitzgerald via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Boxing remained marred by its links to the feud as Kinahan\u2019s MTK Global management company signed up a lot of the talent on the island. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

MTK Global folded shortly after the U.S. imposed sanctions on what they called the \u201cKinahan Organized Crime Group\u201d in 2022. Although the Hutch-Kinahan feud has not officially ended in the years since, its intensity has cooled significantly.<\/p>\n

After Saturday’s event, you could have easily mistaken the sea of people making its way from 3Arena down Sheriff Street as a practice run for Tuesday\u2019s St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade. A close-knit community, O\u2019Leary\u2019s neighbors will have undoubtedly raised a glass or two in his name, toasting their new champion into the early hours of Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Warren\u2019s long-term rival, Matchroom\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a s***load of work to make sure that one of the greatest athletes of all time gets her ultimate dream,\u201d said Hearn on a recent episode of “The Ariel Helwani Show.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Katie Taylor have long coveted a fight at Ireland’s 82,300-seat Croke Park.<\/p>\n

(Stephen McCarthy via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I have to deliver Croke Park [for Taylor]. I have to. If I don\u2019t give this everything, if I don\u2019t try my very hardest to make this a reality, I\u2019m not doing Katie justice and I\u2019m not doing myself justice. Because this would be the greatest sporting event ever in the history of Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Hearn should be reminded of new foe Dana White\u2019s past desires to hold a Conor McGregor-led UFC event at the famous GAA ground. In their ongoing battle of one-upmanship<\/a>, surely a massive combat sports event on Ireland\u2019s most famous pitch would be a significant victory for the English promoter.<\/p>\n

There are some who believe that boxing, or mixed martial arts for that matter, doesn’t deserve a date on the hallowed turf. They don\u2019t make the same claims about Taylor, though.<\/p>\n

And if the queen of boxing\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUBLIN \u2014 Anthony Cacace became the latest protagonist in Ireland\u2019s boxing revival Saturday night, dethroning Jazza Dickens to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[266824,64,63,802,241906,265442,31403,9915,178129,528,26779,207563,268161,8200,176275,268162,85],"class_list":["post-541268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-anthony-cacace","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-croke-park","tag-daniel-kinahan","tag-dublin","tag-eddie-hearn","tag-featherweight-champion","tag-getty-images","tag-ireland","tag-irish-boxing","tag-james-dickens","tag-katie-taylor","tag-maxi-hughes","tag-pierce-oleary","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}