James “Jazza” Dickens is about to make his first-ever world title defense after more than 15 years as a professional boxer, and he’s not taking on an easy opponent for a victory lap.
Instead, Dickens will face Anthony Cacace, a former junior lightweight titleholder himself who was never defeated for his belt but rather chose to vacate it.
“My coach made me sit down and watch three of [Cacace’s] fights, and he watched a few others,” Dickens said Thursday at the final press conference for their March 14 bout, which will headline at 3Arena in Dublin and stream on DAZN.
“I was very, very impressed by his style of boxing, how he can box like a small man and box like a big man,” Dickens said of the 37-year-old native of Belfast, Northern Ireland. “He is good at everything, really, so we will have to adapt to his skills.”
Cacace, 24-1 (9 KOs), shocked Joe Cordina in May 2024 to win the IBF title at 130lbs. But he never made a single defense – a decision over Josh Warrington in September 2024 was a non-title bout. Cacace ultimately vacated the belt at the start of 2025, and he stopped Leigh Wood last May.
Dickens, 36-5 (15 KOs), scored a huge fourth-round stoppage of Albert Batyrgaziev last July to earn the secondary WBA interim belt at junior lightweight. When primary titleholder Lamont Roach Jnr vacated, Dickens received an upgrade.
Dickens of course is proud to have a world title, but it doesn’t necessarily change his approach to this match.
“You are training for a fight and training to win,” Dickens said. “When you become a champion, you still have to go in there to win your own title back. It is just the same for me.”
Dickens is a 34-year-old from Liverpool, England, who now lives and trains in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Dickens had a longer journey to Dublin than would normally be the case, complicated by the war in the Middle East.
“We had to travel from Oman to Istanbul and then Dublin from Dubai,” Dickens said. “It was the weekend anyway and we weren’t going to train, so it was alright. It was not as bad as what you see on the news now.”
The travel issues are behind him now. So is the training camp. All that’s left is what made those challenges worthwhile.
“We’ve prepared for how we want to fight this fight,” Dickens said, “And I am very excited to hear that first bell.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
