NOTTINGHAM, England — Anthony Cacace jabbed brilliantly and probed his way to an impressive ninth-round stoppage win over two-time featherweight champion Leigh Wood, playing spoiler on enemy turf once again.

A week shy of a year since his stunning Saudi trip was crowned with an eighth-round finish of then-unbeaten IBF titleholder Joe Cordina, the 36-year-old is aging like fine wine and firmly a man in form.

Having revealed the financial package to box Wood, rather than make a mandatory title defence against Eduardo Nunez (27-1, 27 KOs) was double the money offered by Nunez's promoter Eddie Hearn, he acknowledged his family for graciously allowing him to embrace war mode during the post-fight press conference.

"I'm going to enjoy a couple of months off with my kids and missus, they put up with all this [expletive]. I'm an angry moody [expletive] and they all put up with me, the way I am. ... They deserve a medal."

Keeping up with the winner-stays-on theme during a main event with two 36-year-olds headlining, Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) admitted he'd have retired had the roles reversed here and Wood triumphant at his expense after a 19-month layoff. Instead, it's onto new challenges and an opportunity to reclaim a world title recognised by one of the main four sanctioning bodies is naturally of interest.

Two-time WBC junior lightweight titleholder O'Shaquie Foster (23-3, 12 KOs) reclaimed world honours with a 12-round split decision win over Robson Conceicao during their Nov. 2 rematch and Cacace sees parallels between them, given how long it took both to earn world-class opportunities.

"Saudi isn't really giving out the money you want anymore, loved the experience but am at the stage now where I'm literally top of the tree. Disposed all the top feather and super featherweights in Britain, wouldn't mind bringing it back to Belfast, doing something before hanging up the gloves. Fighting for the WBC title, in front of my home crowd — which I'm very capable of doing — would be unbelievable."

The caveat? Unlike previous cards, Cacace wants to spread the wealth and have some local Irish talent featuring on his undercard, making sure to shoutout a 25-year-old welterweight stablemate among others waiting for their chance to shine.

"It's my job now to give these up-and-coming talent the platform to perform on. Barry McReynolds in my gym, he's going to be signing with Queensberry very soon, we'll start him off there as well, why not?"

Later speaking to The Ring about a return timeline and an early preview into the potential Foster fight, he added: "What month are we in now, May? Maybe end of the year or to start 2026, I'm easy.

"I knock him out. I'm just confident that I do. He's tailor-made for me, right hand and left hook, all day long. Yeah, he's a wee bit tricky, but so what? I'll just do what I have done to all these boys. As soon as I hit them, I hurt them."

Foster's three defeats have all gone the distance during his 12-year career, and while he's operated at a higher weight for longer, Cacace is the naturally bigger of the pair. He spoke about nerves of the unknown in Nottingham and would have them again if the Belfast homecoming were granted against Foster, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.