Olympic hopefuls Pat and Luke McCormack are about to go drinking … in the last-chance saloon.
It’s not just the brilliant Birtley boxing brothers in Paris this week, it’s the same for fighters everywhere as they chase their places for the greatest sporting show on earth in Japan.
Despite the Coronavirus pandemic and polls that say six out of 10 Japanese people don’t want the games to take place, the Olympics will open on schedule in Tokyo on July 23.
And the McCormacks intend to be there, which brings us to the last chance saloon – the Road to Tokyo European Olympic qualifying event in Paris from June 4-8.
The irony of it all is that it’s not only the final qualifier, it is the first and only opportunity – in years gone there were multiple qualifiers.
Ahead of Rio 2016, Pat McCormack was beaten at the start of the first qualifying tourny but got his Olympic spot in the next event. While there are no such safety nets this time, a new International Olympic Committee body, the Boxing Task Force will have just 13 additional places for European boxers based on a ranking system.
A total of 77 boxers will qualify this weekend in Paris and, given there are 176 competitors in the French capital, the odds look pretty good … but you still have to win.
And here is the crux of it for the twins from Washington.
Luke McCormack (right) needs to overcome Tugrulhan Erdemir of Turkey in his first bout on Saturday to secure his first Olympic vest.
Pat requires two wins, starting with a victory over Monaco’s Hugo Micallef.
The competition in Paris carries on from the event in London in March 2020 left off after it was suspended following only three days of competition owing to the Coronavirus outbreak. It will be based on the draw from the original event.
How to watch the bouts on the Olympic Channel.
The McCormacks are part of a 12-strong Britain squad.
Galal Yafai and Peter McGrail had already qualified in London, but they are in Paris to see if they can get into the medal positions in this Euro event.
Elsewhere, middleweight Lewis Richardson will need to overcome Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzniak to set-up a quarter-final qualification bout, while light-heavyweight, Ben Whittaker, also needs two wins, starting with a bout against Paul Andrej Aradoaie of Romania.
Cheavon Clarke needs two wins to secure qualification at heavy and will meet Narek Manasyan of Armenia in his opening contest. The same is true of super-heavy, Frazer Clarke, who needs to see off Croatia’s Marko Milun, in his first bout to set-up a qualification bout.
Charley Davison needs to defeat Poland’s Sandra Drabik to complete a fairytale story that will see her qualify for the Olympic Games, less than two years after returning to the sport, following a seven-year break in which she had three children.
Featherweight, Karriss Artingstall, needs to win twice and will begin her campaign against Helina Bruyevich of Belarus on Friday.
Lightweight Caroline Dubois also requires two victories to secure qualification. The 20-year-old will face world number two Mira Potkonen of Finland in her opening contest.
World champ, Lauren Price, needs two wins to reach Tokyo and will start her campaign against Davina Michel of France.
Words: Roy Kelly
