Anthony Cacace spent years scratching around for an opportunity, but the 36-year-old Irishman has recently been spoilt for choice.

Faced with a decision between a mandatory defence of his IBF title against heavy-handed Mexican Eduardo "Sugar’ Nunez" or an attractive fight with British rival Leigh Wood, Cacace relinquished his IBF belt. He will meet Wood in the headline attraction from Nottingham Arena Saturday night, televised on DAZN worldwide.

Nunez clearly represents a hard night’s work, but Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) can hardly be accused of seeking out an easy option by electing to fight Wood (28-3, 17 KOs).

The two-time WBA featherweight champion established himself as arguably the hardest hitting and most resilient fighter at 126lbs. Although he is 36 years old, too, Wood will undoubtedly be an even better version of himself now that he can focus entirely on the opponent in front of him rather than the scales.

Since stopping Joe Cordina to become the IBF champion last May, Cacace has made it clear that he wants the most high-profile, lucrative fights available.

Wood certainly ticks both boxes.

“I’m not ducking anyone, you know what I mean? These are people who are listening to the likes of Eddie Hearn [Nunez’s promoter] and these type of men and promoters,” Cacace told Queensberry when asked about accusations of him ducking Nunez.

“The facts are that the money was 100% better. I’m 36 years of age. I’ve got three children. If I was 28 and the money was the same for that Mexican, I’d have fought him in his back garden.

“Call me a duck, call me whatever you want. I don’t give a [expletive].”

Cacace’s life has changed dramatically during the past 12 months.

Over the years, a long list of top quality fighters have praised Cacace’s power and boxing ability, but justifying their faith at the highest level continued to evade him.

Frustration undoubtedly affected Cacace outside of the ring and questions began to be asked about his level of dedication but, importantly, he never allowed the annoyance to affect him inside the ropes. Although his appearances became almost annual occurrences, Cacace kept himself in the hunt and is undefeated in almost eight years.

His perseverance paid off, and by beating Cordina and two-time IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington, Cacace has firmly established himself as one of the top 130lb fighters on the planet.

“From Cordina to Josh Warrington to Leigh Wood. If you’d seen me a year-and-a-half ago, two, three years ago, I’m watching these boys on these big platforms, doing the job and I just couldn’t see myself there,” he said.

“The fact that I fought Warrington last and now I’m walking into another huge fight against Wood blows my mind. Amazing. Amazing. I’m just thrilled I’ve got to where I’ve got to. It was a long road, but I’m here.”