Anthony Cacace will make the primary defence of his WBA super-featherweight world title towards Nick Ball at The 02 in Belfast on 19 December.
The 37-year-old from Belfast gained the title in March with a factors victory of James ‘Jazza’ Dickens in Dublin and can face one other Liverpool native in former featherweight champion Ball.
Cacace’s final struggle in his dwelling metropolis occurred in May 2023 with a defence of the IBO belt towards Damian Wrzesinski on the undercard of Luis Alberto Lopez’s featherweight title victory over Michael Conlan.
Since then, he has gained after which relinquished the IBF title earlier than turning into a two-time champion on the weight with victory over Dickens which noticed his report enhance to 25 wins with one loss.
“Nick’s a great fighter, ex-world champion, so I expect a good scrap. He’s a hard man, so let’s do it,” Cacace instructed DAZN.
“I’ll fight with him, I’ll box him – whatever way he wants, so we’ll see what happens on the night. I’m really looking forward to it.
“Belfast round Christmas time goes to be leaping, so I’m trying ahead to it.”
Ball is coming off his first career defeat when stopped in the final round by Brandon Figueroa in a defence of the WBA featherweight title in February.
The Liverpudlian won the title in 2024 with a points verdict over Raymond Ford, three months after his first bid for world honours ended in a draw against then-WBC champion Rey Vargas.
He fought on the identical Belfast card as Cacace in 2023 when stopping Ludumo Lamati, who suffered a stroke in the ring but has since recovered, and is relishing the possibility to turn into a two-weight champion.
“It’s a large alternative at a brand new weight,” said Ball, whose record is 23-1-1.
“He’s a stable champion, so it’ll be a great struggle. I’ll be coming, he’ll be coming, so it’ll be a great one.”