Pat McCormack set out for Russia with only one colour on his mind – now he has the opportunity to strike World Championship gold.
But to win the welterweight title in Ekaterinburg on Saturday, the in-form 24-year-old must break the hearts of the home nation.
McCormack, a unanimous semi-final winner over Bobo-Usmon Baturov on Friday, will meet Russia’s Andrei Zamkovoi in what looks an absolutely belting final match-up at 69 kilos.
It’s a tough challenge for Pat who must silence the 5,000 capacity crowd who will cheer every punch from their hero.
However, the Birtley ABC star will be full of confidence, having out-thought and out-boxed Baturov over the three rounds.
McCormack has had a couple of tight decisions in his run to his first World Championship final, but there was absolutely no doubt where and how this battle of the second and third seeds.
There was no lack of heart or effort from the Uzbek, but the quality work came from the Washington boxer.
It got a bit messy as the bout came to an end but McCormack was a decisive winner (pictured), taking all three rounds from the USA, Korea, German and Estonian judges with the Moldova official marking it 29-28.
Pat would become only the second British male world amateur champion after Frankie Gavin, should he win in Ekaterinburg against the Olympic bronze medallist.
He faces a fighter just as motivated as him.
While Zamkovoi was seeded ‘only’ eighth, he has put together a superb run, defeating top seeded Olympic champion Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo, from Cuba, in the last eight and Kazakhstan’s fourth seed, Ablaikhan Zhussupov, in the semis.
McCormack, sadly, will be Great Britain’s only gold medal contender on finals day.
Peter McGrail lost out on a split decision to Cuban great Lázaro Álvarez Estrada in the U57 kilo semis, while light-heavy Ben Whittaker lost out to Uzbekistan’s Dilshodbek Ruzmetov on a unanimous verdict.
Words: Roy Kelly
