Our boxing tipster Matt Gipon has three knockout fancies!
It’s St Patrick’s weekend and there’s a festival of boxing at the 3Arena in Dublin. The headline fight is the world title contest between James Dickens and Anthony Cacace, while on the undercard Dublin’s Pierce O’Leary steps up against Maxi Hughes and hometown favourite Jono Carroll faces Belfast’s Colm Murphy.
Our boxing tipster Matt Gipon has put together a tasty treble for Saturday’s bouts, let’s get to his tips.
Saturday night Boxing Tips
*All timings are approximate
7pm Saturday: Jono Carroll v Colm Murphy – Carroll to win the fight in round 7-12
9pm Saturday: Pierce O’Leary v Maxi Hughes – Hughes points or decision
10pm Saturday: James Dickens v Anthony Cacace – Cacace to win the fight in round 7-12
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
TV: DAZN
7pm Saturday: Jono Carroll v Colm Murphy – Carroll to win the fight in round 7-12
This is what you call a crossroads fight – after 13 years as a pro Carroll, 33, is fighting for his career at title level, while Murphy, 26, is just starting his journey. It’s been a respectful build-up between the Dublin vet and Belfast’s ‘Posh Boy’, but I am expecting manners to go out the window when the first bell rings.
Neither man is known for his knockout power but they will both fancy being the aggressor on Saturday night. Carroll brings pressure, volume and championship experience, but Murphy will look to land big shots from distance with his reach advantage.
This event is a long-awaited homecoming for Carroll and he’ll be desperate to perform in front of his city. Murphy is moving up to super featherweight, and with his lack of experience I have to favour Carroll – I think Murphy will keep coming but eventually the pressure will tell, and Carroll will get his hand raised after a late stoppage.
O’Leary and Hughes is another crossroads match-up but this time the hometown fighter is the one stepping up in levels. ‘Big Bang’ O’Leary has a perfect 18-fight record but Maxi is an unsung hero of British boxing who easily held his own with the likes of former champ George Kambosos and double Olympian Bakhodur Usmonov.
Hughes lost via mixed decision to both Kambosos and Usmonov, but the slick and skilful southpaw has notched up notable wins over Kid Galahad and Ryan Walsh. More recently the Yorkshireman inflicted defeats on Gary Cully and Archie Sharp – two men with very similar records to O’Leary.
The concerns for Hughes, 36, are his age, lack of power, and that he is a natural lightweight facing a fully-fledged super lightweight. O’Leary, 26, is a talent but I have to back the experienced man – Hughes to get another big win on points.
A few years ago you wouldn’t have predicted that Dickens and Cacace would be contesting a world title but both men are in the form of their lives. Dickens won the interim super featherweight title in July and he was elevated to full champion in December, now he takes on Belfast’s former champ.
‘Anto’ put in a devastating performance to rip the world title from Joe Cordina in 2024,and then he gave up that belt to make big fights with Britain’s Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood. Cacace made light work of those former titleholders and now he’s chasing the chance to become a two-time world champion.
For ‘Jazza’, 2025 completely transformed his career – in February the Liverpudlian beat highly-rated British rival Zelfa Barrett and then in July he managed to walk through 2020 Olympic champ and unbeaten pro Albert Batyrgaziev in just four rounds.
In 15 years as a pro, Dickens, 34, has moved up from super bantamweight, where he was demolished in a world title fight by Guillermo Rigondeaux, to featherweight where he was stopped by Galahad and Hector Andres Sosa, before finally getting on a winning run at 130-pounds.
It’s been a long, tough career for Dickens but the same can’t be said for Cacace. The Northern Irishman, 37, has contested just 25 professional bouts and he’s only suffered one defeat – a close decision loss to slickster Martin J Ward.
Dickens has a great engine and he has creative southpaw attack, but he’s a bit too easy to hit. The champ has lost four times by KO, with three of those coming in round 10 or later. Cacace is heavy-hand and comes on strong in the latter rounds – I can’t look past a stoppage win for the challenger.
Saturday night Boxing Tips
*All timings are approximate
7pm Saturday: Jono Carroll v Colm Murphy – Carroll to win the fight in round 7-12
9pm Saturday: Pierce O’Leary v Maxi Hughes – Hughes points or decision
10pm Saturday: James Dickens v Anthony Cacace – Cacace to win the fight in round 7-12
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
Read MoreTap here for PP.com’s latest boxing oddsThe Paddy Power Guide To Safer Gambling – Everything You Need To Know