Great to be boxing on home turf and great to have a proper cup of tea.
Those are the feelings of GB boxer Luke McCormack on the eve of the Road to Tokyo when London hosts the European Olympic Qualifiers which are due to open, on schedule at the Copperbox Arena on Saturday.
With the news dominated by talk of the coronavirus, the start of the event will allow the British team (and the 350 boxers from across Europe in London for this championship) to focus on what they are in the capital for – to book one of the 77 Olympic places on offer.
For Luke McCormack and his colleagues there is the thrill of representing Queen and country in their homeland.
Light-welter Luke has represented his team in countries like Australia, Germany, Russia, Spain and Ukraine, to name just five, but now he’s chuffed to add the UK to his list.
“It’s nice and about time,” he smiled.
“It’s the first tournament I’ve boxed in this country and it’s great we have home advantage.
“It’s good to have the fans behind you but it’s also good to be on home soil and get a proper cup of tea!”
The 24-year-old has had a difficult situation to master ahead of the tournament, double difficult in fact, but insists he has dealt with both.
With the change in the weight categories – light-welter has gone down from 64 kilos to 63 kilos and lightweight (60kilos) has disappeared from the Olympics – it means the Washington boxer has had to shed a kilo while his friend and Birtley ABC team-mate Calum French has missed out completely.
‘Frenchy’ would have been a shoo-in at 60 kilos and McCormack believes his pal will carry on and flourish in the amateur game.
“I’ve never had a problem doing the weight,” said Luke, who is pictured right with twin Pat (who boxes at 69 kilos in London on the left).
“I’ve always been bang on.
“I would not say me and Frenchy were rivals for the team, it’s just been a bad situation.
“He’s put the work in to get where he is and would be our number one boxer at 60 kilos.
“I am the number one at 64 kilos so this is my weight category really but it’s been a bad situation for him seeing his division go.
“I am wounded for him, but he’ll stick with it, guaranteed.”
The Road to Tokyo runs from Saturday until March 24.
Words Roy Kelly
