Anthony Cacace will make the first defence of his IBF super-featherweight title against Josh Warrington at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 21.

Topping the bill on the Saudi-backed Riyadh Season blockbuster will be the all-British heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, while the card will also feature some superb contests including Willy Hutchinson vs Joshua Buatsi; Hamzah Sheeraz vs Tyler Denny; and Liam Smith vs Josh Kelly.

But for Cacace, the opportunity to fight at Wembley is one that will mean a little more as in April 2022, he was due to appear on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte, only for his opponent, Jhonatan Romero, fail to obtain a visa and leave him packing his bags for home rather than for fight night.

"The difference now is I don't have to go looking for the fights," Cacace said of his elongated route to the top.

"To be sharing a ring with Josh Warrington, who I've watched over the years and is a real warrior - he is going to make it the best fight possible. I think this is a real fan-friendly fight.

"This is the pinnacle of the sport, so I'm not surprised (Warrington moved up for the title shot)."

Cacace won the world title on the Fury vs Usyk undercard in Saudi Arabia in May, and had been expected to face mandatory challenger, Eduardo 'Sugar' Nunez in his first defence, but it emerged earlier this week the use bid and fight was put on the back burner.

This opened the door for 33-year-old Warrington, with a record of 31-3-1, to step in and also step up as the 'Leeds Warrior' has campaigned at featherweight throughout his career that saw him twice claim world honours.

He is no stranger to Belfast fans as in 2014, he overcame Martin Lindsay in a British and Commonwealth title defence, while in December 2018, in his first defence of the world title won against Lee Selby, he had the measure of Carl Frampton.

Warrington would relinquish the title, only to be beaten by Mauricio Lara in his next outing and then in a rematch against the Mexican, have to settle for a technical draw due to a head clash in the second round seeing Lara unable to continue.

He won the IBF featherweight title for a second time in 2022, stopping Kiko Martinez, only to suffer defeat to Luis Lopez - the man who crushed Michael Conlan's title dreams.

Warrington's bid to become a three-time champion at 126lbs ended in a stoppage loss against Leigh Wood last year, a fight in which he looked in control of only for the Nottingham man to turn the tables, but instead of getting the rematch he was craving, will now move up to 130lbs in a bid to make it a hat-trick against Belfast opposition.

Of course, the 'Andytown Apache' will be in no mood to allow that to happen as he was forced to wait in the wings for what seemed an eternity before he got his shot and grabbed it with both hands against Cordina last month.

"This has been flirted with for a week or so and I've had nothing but respect from Anthony and his team," said Warrington.

"His performance against Cordina was phenomenal; he boxed really well and he has my full respect. We are going to throw the kitchen sink at each other, but when I become two-weight, three-time (champion) I'll get the round in.

"There's nothing but respect between me and Anthony and like he said, it will be a fan-friendly fight."