Double bronze? It might not set their world alight, but it is not the end of the world either.
Boxing twins Luke and Pat McCormack ended 19 months of ring activity by taking podium positions at the Belgrade Winner Tournament.
The Birtley ABC brothers were part of a strong Great Britain squad who went out to the Serbian capital for a vital warm up to the Olympic Games qualifying event in Paris at the start of June.
Of course, the trip across the English Channel is the serious business – the week in the Balkans was primarily about getting inside the ropes and throwing some leather, while trying to avoid the leather coming back.
In that sense, it was a case of mission accomplished.
World number one Pat McCormack got three wins under his welterweight belt in Belgrade.
Opening up against Dionysios Pefanis, the Washington talent saw off his Greek opponent via a unanimous decision before beating Aden Fetahovic, from Bosnia/Herzegovina by the same method.
The European Games champion then secured his first medal of the year by defeating Scotland’s Stephen Newns on all judges scorecards.
That set up the 25-year-old with a semi-final against Serbia’s Vahid Abasov, who took a split decision.
It was bad luck for Pat who would have loved five bouts in Belgrade but four is not a bad tally to have ahead of Paris.
There was a third place too for Luke who, like Pat, was boxing for the first time since the 2019 World Championships in Ekaterinburg.
Luke reached the last eight in Russia and made it to the U63 kilos semis in Serbia.
His tournament began smoothly when he won a unanimous decision against North Macedonia’s Jasin Ljama, before defeating Serbia’s Nenad Jovanovic on all the cards in the quarters.
But his adventure ended in the last four, where he lost out to Artur Subhankulov of Russia.
All but one of GB Boxing’s 11 boxers in action in the old Yugoslavia capital came away with medals.
There were three golds, for Rosie Eccles, Ben Whittaker and Frazer Clarke, while Charley Davison, back in the sport after having three children, won silver at flyweight.
Caroline Dubois Cheavon Clarke, Galal Yafai and Peter McGrail all picked up bronze, the latter two boxers (who have already booked their places for Tokyo) being withdrawn from the competition after the quarter-finals.
GB Boxing’s Performance Director Rob McCracken said: “All boxers have performed superbly and been a credit to GB Boxing.
“The priority at this tournament was to ensure the boxers got some good quality competition after such a long lay-off.
“So to see them deliver a number of excellent performances and return with 10 medals has been a big success.
“We ought to have had more boxers in the finals, but overall it has been a very useful week that has enabled the team to secure some good action and get back into the routine of competing.
“The focus now is on the Olympic qualifier (in Paris, June 4-8) and making sure the boxers are well prepared and in the best possible shape to secure their place at Tokyo 2021.”
The Belgrade Winner tournament was held under Covid secure protocols and featured boxers from Serbia, France, Italy, Bosnia, Belarus, Botswana, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus. Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Morocco, Moldova, North Macedonia, Mali, Montenegro, Norway, Slovenia, Romania, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Slovakia, Sweden, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and the Refugee Team.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: GB Boxing
