NOTTINGHAM, England — A cacophonous noise overwhelmed Saturday night's main event and it felt fitting then, that IBO junior-lightweight champion Anthony Cacace stayed patient en route to silencing the boisterous crowd with an emphatic ninth-round stoppage win over home favourite Leigh Wood.

Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) willingly vacated his IBF crown, set to be contested between Eduardo Nunez (27-1, 27 KOs) and Masanori Rikiishi (16-1, 11 KOs) on May 28, reaping richer rewards as he confirmed during an emotional post-fight interview in the ring.

Paid double than a proposed mandatory defence to embrace enemy territory against Wood, Leighthal, not long ago, could lay claim to being the country's most exciting fighter — win or lose — though the latter wasn't an option here on his promotional debut under Frank Warren.

Ultimately, he couldn't have a definitive say against an in-form champion who jabbed brilliantly and picked his moments, prompting some difficult questions in the aftermath for Wood to ponder.

This main event capped Queensberry's 12-fight card at Motorpoint Arena in the East Midlands, with the final four bouts televised worldwide on DAZN after the undercard portion was screened on YouTube.

Given how both had spoken in the build up, it felt like a winner stays on showdown and as such, the pair took their time to measure one another, Cacace the aggressor and Wood (28-4, 17 KOs) darting out of range as his close family members ringside could barely watch.

The home favourite appeared hurt, or at the very least buzzed, as Cacace advanced forward in the final half-minute of the opening round and pinged jabs in his face.

Wood started the second busier, flicking his left hand out with some success as Cacace replied with his right hand, looking to time the two-time world champion coming forward.

"He's got no power Leigh, come on," Wood was urged forward and he finished with a nice counter to get the crowd baying for more — even if it wasn't enough to win it outright.

Wood backed up the champion with a pair of jabs to start the third, the crowd serenading him shortly afterwards, as you could sense the tension waiting for one big moment to get excited about. Cacace caught him with a lovely uppercut, then more rights, making him bite on feints aplenty and Wood needed to double up his single shot attempts.

Wood's inside work helped build an interesting fourth round, knowing it was work in the pocket that kickstarted the titleholder's surprise stoppage win over Joe Cordina a year ago.

Cacace didn't flinch at short-range and Wood's attacks, while subtle in many respects, were doing enough to keep the visitor wary of what might come back if he wasn't careful.

Doing well behind his jab while maintaining a high guard, the Belfast man couldn't miss with his one-two combinations and forward forays were well-intentioned — Wood finishing the fifth with a three-punch counter to rise the crowd noise level a few notches.

Cacace's inside work was again a factor in the sixth, Wood being implored to move his head and keep defensively sound as he got increasingly tagged with jabs.

Into the second half they went, Cacace comfortable to stick and move while any Wood connection was wildly celebrated, almost exemplifying how infrequent the success felt.

"Make him work," was the command from Wood's trainer Ben Davison as he dug to the body early in the eighth, though referee John Latham paused the action to sternly warn Cacace for rabbit punching and their tightly contested exchanges up close persisted.

Wood had his best round for a while in that frame, both cut and bloodied for their troubles, though Cacace responded defiantly as a champion would.

He connected on a howitzer of a left hook which began a frantic ninth. Wood, kept up by the ropes, was rightly given a standing eight count and the writing was on the wall after that.

Despite briefly holding firm under duress, there was nowhere to hide and Wood's legs were all over the place, with Davison inevitably throwing in the towel saving further damage.