WBA super-featherweight champion Anthony Cacace is not prepared to allow suggestions of a showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko distract him as he prepares to take on Nick Ball.

The 37-year-old makes his maiden defence of the title against Liverpool’s former WBA featherweight champion Ball at the recently renamed O2 Belfast on 19 December.

The WBA have already indicated the winner must face Russia’s Elnur Samedov next, but the returning Lomachenko is reported to have his eye on the winner according to ESPN’s Brian Custer., external

Should that come to pass, it would represent the realisation of a dream for Cacace but his immediate gaze remains firmly fixed on Ball.

“I’m not really thinking about that just now, I just kind of want to focus fully on Nick Ball and this fight coming up,” he insists.

“I woke up to them type of things [Lomachenko interest] going to myself, ‘what?’. To see that type of stuff blows my mind but it’s one of those things and I’m just super grateful for it all.

“I remember putting a tweet out in 2012 calling out Lomachenko, so if that fight ever materialises, I’ll get that tweet sorted.”

The last time Cacace boxed in the arena was in 2023, out-pointing Damian Wrzesinski over 12 rounds on the undercard of Luis Alberto Lopez’s defeat of Michael Conlan in an IBF featherweight title defence.

Sandwiched between those two bouts was a victory for Ball over Ludumo Lamati, a fight that ended in worrying scenes with the South African suffering a stroke in the ring when stoppped in the final round, but has since made a full recovery.

The Liverpudlian “didn’t even know that” he and Cacace shared that undercard but is more than happy to return to Belfast for this opportunity.

Since that night, the 29-year-old has gone on to draw in a first world title attempt against Rey Vargas before getting over the line in his next outing against Raymond Ford.

Three successful defences would follow, but in February of this year, it all unravelled in the final round against Brandon Figueroa when he was dropped twice and then stopped, suffering his first career loss in his 25th professional bout.

“It was a good fight, back and forth for 12 rounds and he caught me with a good shot in the last round,” Ball reflected.

“He threw an overhand left counter as I was throwing, so that’s what happened. It’s boxing, it’s part of the game.”

A bundle of aggression, Ball brings a relentless style but will concede considerable height and reach advantages to Cacace in what his his first step up into the super-featherweight division with the opportunity to become a two-weight champion “something special”.

The move up was prompted by this opportunity alone, but feels he will be “stronger, more comfortable” and is not concerned about fighting a much bigger man.

“All fights are challenging,” he countered.

“The reach and the size advantage [for opponents], I’ve been doing that my whole career, so that’s nothing new to me.”

In his 26-fight career, Cacace has boxed in his native Belfast on just five occasions, so to headline in his home city for the first time in a world title defence is “a dream come true”.

He has been riding the crest of a wave since winning his first world title in 2024 when he stopped Joe Cordina for the IBF version in Saudi Arabia and there has been no looking back.

Wins over Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood – which came after vacating the title – would set him up for a shot at then WBA-holder James ‘Jazza’ Dickens earlier this year and it proved another night of glory for a man whose career had previously been confined to the shadows.

“I always wanted to come back and have one big show,” he said.

“It’s a dream come true. I never believed I’d be in this situation, but here I am.

“I’m just expecting the usual Nick Ball, [he’ll] come forward with aggression.

“I feel like I can do it all. I can deal with him and deal with those styles for 20-plus years, so it’s just going to be another fight, another good fight and hopefully a good show for Belfast.”