Wood was returning to the ring after a 19-month break, but following wins over Cordina and Josh Warrington, Cacace has now beaten three two-time champions in succession.

“I don’t know if I fought the best Leigh Wood, but I fought Leigh Wood as again he’s another two-time world champion,” he said.

“He’s beaten some really good names. It was a fight he’s been asking for, a fight that he’s been telling everyone he was going to knock me out.

“It just shows you that I’m better than what I look like sometimes and I hit harder than my records suggest.”

Cacace will turn 37 in February but, after his late rise through the division, said he has to “keep going”.

“Never in my wildest dreams, genuinely, did I ever think that I would be where I’m at and that’s the truth,” he added.

“We’re living in dreamland compared to two years ago.

“I can’t just stop now, can I? I’ll have to keep going. I don’t have many miles on the clock.”