Time’s right for Cacace to show his class: Magee
Transition period may well result in lowest representation in decades
PAT Magee knows all about the pitfalls of managing and directing the right pathway for fighters, so the importance of this Saturday night’s bout for Anthony Cacace is all too clear.
Cacace makes the first defence of his British super-featherweight title against Lyon Woodstock at the Copper Box Arena, London. At 32 years of age and ranked ninth in the WBA, there is more riding on the fight than the Lonsdale belt; a money-spinning future is on the line for the Belfast man.
The sport has seen quite a few upsets in recent weeks, with fellow Belfast man Sean Mccomb losing a Commonwealth lightweight title shot, Josh Warrington suffering a first loss to Mexican outsider Mauricio Lara, rising English star Josh Kelly stopped by David Avanesyan last weekend and across the Atlantic the WBC super-feather belt changed hands when Oscar Valdez stunned Miguel Berchelt.
Magee insists Cacace will not join that list.
‘Styles make fights’ is the old boxing adage that remains ever true and Magee has not lost sight of it as he seeks to plot the way ahead for Cacace, for whom defeat to Woodstock on Saturday night would bring his career to a standstill just when it seems to be at its most promising juncture.
“Everything is different now. The world has changed and boxing has changed. During this pandemic everybody has trained differently,” said Magee.
“Camps have been interrupted, some camps have been shorter and I know that Anthony would have sparred a lot more in normal circumstances but this is the way it is for everybody and you have to get on with it. Having been in the gym last week and seen him spar, I’m very confident that he can do a good job against Woodstock.
“It’s a fight that comes at a very important time for Anthony. At this point in time there are three leading super-featherweights in the UK — Anthony, Zelfa Barrett and Archie Sharp. Barrett got exposed recently in his fight with Kiko Martinez when he got a controversial decision and at the moment Sharp is out injured.
“I believe that Anthony is best of the three and he should look very good against Woodstock on Saturday. Then, there is really nobody else on the domestic scene to defend against — we have to be looking for a fight that moves him up the world rankings.
“Anthony is in the fortunate position that he has a promotional deal with Frank Warren and this Saturday is about him showing Frank Warren that he is a fighter who is ready to move onto the world stage and also show BT Sport that he is someone they should really get behind and want to see in attractive fights.
“The two titles that I am really focused on as options for Anthony are the WBA and WBO and I would hope that all being well he beats Woodstock then it’s about picking the right fight for a world title eliminator.
“The WBA champion, Roger
Gutierrez, is a fight we would love to have.
“We’ve all recently seen how things can go wrong if you take a step too soon. That was the case with Josh Kelly in his fight with David Avanesyan.
“When I heard that fight was made my initial feeling was that Kelly needed more seasoning before taking on a worldclass, rock-hard boxer and after six rounds it was over. Barrett’s fight with Kiko was strange as well because Kiko may be a veteran but his style was all wrong for Barrett.
“It’s just a reminder that you have to be careful how you take a boxer to the next level — you can’t be in a rush. I know some top eastern European guys, like
Lomachenko, can move quickly but they are the exception.
“Anthony is a mature boxer and is right for the next step. A world title fight this year is a realistic goal and the deal with Frank Warren allows us to do that.”
As for the fight with Woodstock, Magee insists that he is expecting Cacace to deliver a performance that backs up the fine British title victory over Sam Bowen at the end of 2019.
“I can see Woodstock being in Anthony’s chest, putting on pressure from the start, but I believe Anthony will show his skills and his jab can be key. Woodstock has come up short in title fights before and I am confident Anthony will break him down and stop him,” added Magee.
AT the start of January, there was a crisis brought on by the number of positive Covid tests after rounds one and two of the two European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) competitions, with English and French teams reporting high infection rates.
This brought about a situation where the Six Nations Championship was at risk.
The French Minister for Sport, Roxana Maracineanu, was wheeled out to make some grave announcements.
“The first match against Italy should not be a problem but for the games against Ireland and England we must really obtain the necessary guarantees from these countries so that they show us that the protocol is as demanding and serious as the one we have in France,” she said.
Strong stuff! The Championship was at risk.
At the same time, the third and fourth rounds of Champions Cup pool games were postponed and the knockout games which were announced yesterday would be held in April.
The EPCR pool games were effectively cancelled by the French. No biggie — the competition would be continued later.
At the same time, the French national squad was announced which was either a little premature given Madame Maracineanu’s statement or a strident show of confidence.
It is important to remember too at this stage that the Top 14 had quite a number of Covid-19 outbreaks during the season all the way up to Christmas. These matches would need to be rescheduled. Maybe it would have been more prudent or politically expedient to announce the rescheduling of those Top 14 fixtures to be pencilled in on the same dates for the Champions Cup slots at another time — mais non, the French announced that rescheduling on the same date.
It’s hard not to get a sense of malice aforethought and that the
French were suiting themselves.
On Saturday, February 13, a member of the French sevens squad tested positive for Covid.
There were no sevens events on at that time but the French squad were obviously trying to keep their eye in. Ireland played France in Dublin the next day.
The day after Ireland played France at the Aviva, Fabien Galthie tested positive for Covid-19 and in the following days 10 more players and four of the French management also tested positive and had to isolate.
It transpired that the French sevens squad were involved in training with the national senior squad at the Centre National de Rugby (CNR) in Marcoussis.
Bubbles? Protocols? Guarantees? France have their three best players — Antoine Dupont, Charles Ollivon and Brice Dulin — out for the game against Scotland on Sunday.
Rafa Ibanez was then dispatched to talk to the press — “we could have got it in Dublin” or “we could have got it off a doorknob”.
The press lapped it up — of course they could have got it from a doorknob but most probably from a doorknob in Marcoussis. It is a miracle that Ireland’s players were not infected.
What is at stake for Ireland this Saturday? Quite a lot really.
People tell me Ireland are in a transition period. They are absolutely right. They have gone from being a world-class side that were extremely competitive and tactically competent to an average side with mediocre aspirations and uncertain ambitions.
While I have no doubt that Ireland will eventually overcome the Italians in Rome, I think there will be a number of uneasy moments. Italy, I fancy, will open us up on a number of occasions and play football while we kick.
The Irish players may have a much calmer environment to operate in but the absence of that edge that Joe Schmidt brought will cost Ireland dearly.
In terms of being compensated, in the early days of professionalism the Irish squad got paid a match fee. As Ireland’s success grew, the squad got win bonuses in the region of €12,000.
Laterally, the team have been compensated by what position they finished in the table.
In 2018 Ireland won the Grand Slam and if you played in all of the matches you would have got a €75,000 bonus. Nice!
If Ireland are beaten by Scotland and England, well, the pickings of finishing fifth in the table are €20,000 per man — that could be before the IRFU make adjustments to their pay scale.
Another thing that will have serious consequences for this Irish team and their poor season is the make-up of the Lions.
It seems the tour will definitely go ahead in June and July. The format and the hosting are the only things to be decided upon.
The squad, I think, will be a much smaller roster for obvious reasons. This is bad news for aspiring Irish players. This Lions year could have the lowest number of Irish players for decades.
Garry Ringrose and Tadhg Furlong probably, and if there is space James Ryan and Andrew Porter too. That is it.
You have the galling situation that the team might be packed with mediocre Scottish players as they beat England and are set for a decent Championship.
You could have a situation where Johnny Gray gets picked for the Lions on the basis that Scotland win more games than Ireland.
Last season or the season before have no bearing.
Four Lions — that is the price of transition.
AFTER much speculation as to how the heavily disrupted European season might pan out, Ulster will now get to see out their campaign by tasting life in the Challenge Cup.
This will be the first time the province have been involved in the secondary European competition and it comes about due to the postponement of rounds three and four in what was already a revised format due to the impact of the pandemic.
Indeed, being part of the Challenge Cup will be seen as increasing Ulster’s chances of having a serious tilt at winning the competition and finally ending their lengthy quest for silverware, even though they now move straight to the knockouts.
Playing in the Challenge Cup could also now result in Ulster facing off against London Irish which, if it comes to pass, would see the province going up against former player Paddy Jackson and ex-coach Les Kiss.
Should an Ulster clash with London Irish be one of the eight games to come out of next month’s draw, then Dan Mcfarland’s squad will be travelling as Irish have a guaranteed home tie.
The latest revision for the
Champions and Challenge Cups means that the competitions are scheduled to resume on the weekend of April 2-4 with a knockout round involving 16 teams before both move on to quarter-finals and semi-finals ahead of the finals in Marseille.
Ulster found themselves not part of the 16 clubs due to see out the Champions Cup as they were just outside the top eight in Pool B at the time of the tournament’s suspension, after losing the two games they played against Toulouse and Gloucester.
Joining Ulster in dropping down to the Challenge Cup are Connacht, Northampton Saints, Bath, Montpellier, Dragons, Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors.
The draw for the round-of-16 will take place on March 9 and Ulster cannot be drawn against any other side in the Guinness PRO14, and will therefore face one of London Irish, Leicester Tigers, Newcastle Falcons, Agen, Northampton Saints, Bath, Montpellier or Harlequins.
London Irish and Leicester are guaranteed home ties as their preliminary stage matches were not impacted by Covid-19.
Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Zebre and Benetton are the PRO14 teams who were already part of the Challenge Cup structure.
The knockout stages will be subject to open draws.
With dates for the Rainbow Cup still not confirmed — and doubts persist over the cross-hemisphere competition due to the pandemic — the fact that Ulster have something hopefully inked in after the PRO14’S scheduled completion at the end of March will be a massive boost for Mcfarland and his squad.
Meanwhile, Ulster lock Kieran Treadwell has added his voice to the need to keep the wins coming as the province prepare to host the Ospreys on Friday night (kick-off 8pm).
With leaders Leinster now five ahead of Ulster in Conference A and with four rounds to go before the scheduled PRO14 final — including a huge clash between the two at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday week — Treadwell and co. have to ramp up the chase.
“We’ve got to win games, if bonus points come after that then they do, but the bottom line is that we have to win,” said Treadwell, who won his 100th Ulster cap last weekend in the non-bonus-point win at Glasgow.
“We’ve got to win games to get ourselves in that position,” he added of Ulster’s intended aim of making a second straight PRO14 final.
FORMER Ireland and Leinster prop Gary Halpin has died aged 55.
Halpin made 11 appearances for Ireland between 1990 and 1995 and had spells at Harlequins and London Irish after starting his career at Leinster.
Leinster said on their official website: “Leinster Rugby is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Leinster and Ireland prop Gary Halpin at the age of 55.
“Halpin, who also represented London Irish and Harlequins, played 11 times for the national side, famously scoring a try against New Zealand at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
“He made his Ireland debut against England in 1990 and also played at the 1991 Rugby World Cup.”
Halpin studied at Rockwell College and later the University of Manhattan and most recently worked as head of boarding at Cistercian College, Roscrea.