To say that Pat McCormack has endured a frustrating start to his professional career would be an understatement. Injuries and issues outside the ring have restricted the talented welterweight to just six appearances in two-and-a-half years, and his comfortable decision win over Argentina’s Williams Andres Herrera was his first fight in 15 months.
Despite his long lay-off, the Olympic silver medallist, 6-0 (4 KOs), quickly found his range and began working away in his methodical, economical fashion. McCormack rarely misses a shot and his long, accomplished amateur career has drilled into him the ability to pick the right punches at the right times.
After dominating the action from centre ring, expertly using feints and straight accurate shots to head and body, McCormack began to open up his repertoire and to land left hooks and uppercuts as the rounds passed.
In round four, one particular right uppercut landed solidly and seemed to drain any remaining ambition from Herrera, who seemed reticent to let any punches go, so wary was he of the sharp counter punches that would come back.
McCormack steadily increased his control on the fight through the middle rounds, and having spent so long out of the ring he seemed content to endure the rounds and get back into the groove of fighting. Each round began to look very similar as McCormack neatly outboxed the Argentinean and easily moved away from the majority of his crude efforts.
In the eighth round a head clash cut McCormack over his left eye and injected some late drama into a previously one-sided fight, but the sight of blood failed to ignite any spark in Herrera, and McCormack continued to box and land some beautifully timed right hands.
He saw out the ninth and 10th rounds comfortably, and was rewarded with a wide unanimous decision. All three judges scored 100-90 in McCormack’s favour.
In January, Herrera, 28, gave Paddy Donovan a few decent rounds before being stopped in the seventh round; this one-sided win provided Sunderland’s McCormack with a good gauge of his progress.
McCormack is clearly talented but, at 29 years old, he needs to stay as busy as possible if he is to fulfil his undoubted potential. The cut over his right eye will force him onto the sidelines for another frustrating spell.
Junaid Bostan, 10-0 (8 KOs) was given the chance to box on this promotion with just three weeks’ notice but the 22 year old jumped at the opportunity to box Maico Sommariva, 9-5-1 (8 KOs).
The super welterweight bout was scheduled for eight rounds, but Bostan made short work of the Argentinean.
Sommariva’s record suggested he may at last possess the power or intent to cause some early problems, but though he caught the over-eager Bostan with a couple of counters in the first, his feet were too slow to get him into position to cause Bostan any real issues, and he soon found himself on the end of some nicely picked southpaw left hands to head and body from the “Starboy” from Rotherham, who moved smoothly in and out of range.
Midway through the third round Bostan caught Sommariva, 33, with a perfectly placed left uppercut that landed just underneath his ribcage. The Argentinean dropped instantly, and although he returned to his feet, he was clearly in distress and the fight was correctly called off.
Liverpool’s Steve Clarke, 5-0 (1 KO) remained unbeaten by outboxing Poland’s Mateusz Pawlowski, 2-2 (1 KO) over six rounds. The 23 year old middleweight remained neat and tidy for the most part but was content to box within himself. Pawlowski stayed safe, comfortably negotiated the distance and put his all into the final 20 seconds of the fight. Although he won Clarke’s respect, he didn’t win a round. Clarke deserved the 60-54 decision he was awarded.
William Crolla, 6-0 (5 KOs), is developing a reputation as something of a puncher. The Mancunian super welterweight stunned Lorenzo Grasso, 6-3 (1 KO), with a right hand in the opening round and jumped right on him. Crolla then let go with both hands until referee the Micheal Alexander stepped in to stop the fight. It had lasted just 44 seconds.
Another Liverpudlian, the 11-0 (6 KOs) Joe McGrail, stepped up to eight rounds and got a solid workout from Lewis Morris, 8-3 (1 KO). The featherweight dropped Morris with a left hook in the second round but his opponent from Walsall came back well and gave McGrail plenty to think about. McGrail was the more aggressive of the two, but Morris scored with some nice right hands and remained competitive until the end. It was scored 79-72.
Heywood’s Emily Whitworth, 1-0, opened the show and got her professional career off to a winning start with a comfortable four-round decision over Hungary’s game Sara Orszagi, 1-3. The bantamweight won all four rounds.
John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79
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