Josh Warrington: Leeds Warrior given world title shot against Belfast's Anthony Cacace at Wembley

Former IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington will return to the ring for the first time in almost 12 months when he squares off against Anthony Cacace at Wembley Stadium on September 21 for the IBF super-featherweight title.

The Leeds Warrior, 33, has not fought since his TKO defeat against Nottingham native Leigh Wood at the Sheffield Arena on October 7, 2023. The contest will form part of the undercard for the heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

Cacace, who hails from Belfast in Northern Ireland, won the IBF super-featherweight title against Welshman Joe Cordina and his first defence will be against Warrington - who has twice won the IBF title at featherweight. It marks a step up in weight for Warrington whose career has stuttered in recent years.

The Coivd-19 pandemic scuppered plans for a unified featherweight world fight with China’s Xu Can at Headingley as Warrington spent 15 months out of the ring. At the start of 2021, he vacated his IBF title which he had won against Lee Selby at Leeds United’s Elland Road in May 2018 and defended against two-weight world champion Carl Frampton with successful defences also coming against Kid Galahad and Sofiane Takoucht .

His return to action at Wembley Arena in February 2021 behind closed doors saw a shock defeat to Mexico’s Mauricio Lara. The pair faced off in Leeds later that year but the fight was declared a technical draw after two rounds following a cut above Lara’s eye that rendered him unable to continue.

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Warrington won back the IBF belt against Kiko Martinez in Leeds as he knocked the Spaniard out inside seven rounds in March 2022 but he would lose it in his first defence as Luis Alberto Lopez won a majority decision at the First Direct Arena in December. Warrington returned against Wood for the WBA featherweight crown and was in control of the contest against the Nottingham fighter but was caught by a powerful combination in the seventh round as the fight was waved off. There had been suggestions Warrington could face Wood in a rematch at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground but that appears unlikely until at least the middle of next year.

"I want to thank Anthony and his team," Warrington said on Wednesday. "This has been flirted with for a week or so, and I've nothing respect for them. Every fight that I have is a Fight of the Year contender. Boxing fans want to be entertained and see two fighters giving it their all so that's what I'll be bringing."

Cacace, 35, stunned Cordina in May in Saudi Arabia to claim his first world title as he grasped his opportunity on the undercard of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk's undisputed heavyweight clash in Riyadh. Cacace told BBC Sport Northern Ireland: "I'm buzzing, it's so exciting. I'm looking forward to everything now. I feel like winning that world title has put a new lease of life into me.

"There were a couple of opponents given to me but I thought Josh was the best fight. He's very well known in Ireland and the UK. He's very experienced, he's been around the block. He's a great fighter."