FEELING THE FORCE
Luke Mccormack is readying himself for a powerful 2018
THERE was little Christmas cheer for Luke Mccormack in 2017. He remained in training to make sure he can begin this year with a bang. He’ll go straight into a World Series of Boxing bout. “I’m boxing against France on February 1. I’ve kept myself in over Christmas. I’ve not being going out or anything. It’s the first time in my life I haven’t had a drink over Christmas. So hopefully it pays off,” Luke told Boxing News. “I’ve got my eyes on this year. I slipped up a couple of times, like qualifying for the Olympics.
“I want to shine in WSB and I want to be Commonwealth gold medallist.”
To be more precise he wants to win the Commonwealths at the same time as twin brother Pat, who boxes for GB at 69kgs. Luke is currently the leading 64kgs Briton. “It would be a dream come true, me and my twin brother winning them. I don’t think it’s ever happened before, being Commonwealth Games gold medallists. So that’s the plan for this year,” Luke continued.
“I am the boxer to watch for at my weight for the Commonwealth Games. 100 per cent,” he said. “Well, I’m classing myself as the number one seed.”
Last year saw him win a silver medal at the European championships, though he was disappointed to lose his second bout at the Worlds. “A little bit frustrating. I moved up weight class and I didn’t fill into the weight properly so I was boxing kids a lot bigger than me. It was a little bit harder, they were quite strong. The only kids that beat me last year were kids who have been stronger than us. I’ve been on the steaks and on the weights so hopefully I’ll be a bit stronger,” Mccormack said. “I was pleased with getting a silver medal but when you get there, you want the gold don’t you?
“It was [Hovhannes] Bachkov from Armenia [in the European final]. It was a man against a boy… I had a tough tournament in Ukraine. I boxed an Olympic bronze medallist the day before, Evaldas Petrauskas, so I was tired. I was already tired for the final. But the better man won on the day.
“I put everything into that semi-final because my money went up if I got to the final,” he noted. “So there was no way I was getting beat. Money’s the motivator.”
Along the way he did pick up a good win over Ireland’s Sean Mccomb. “He beat the World champion Russian the fight before, so everyone expected me to get beat off him. Everyone expected him to win the competition after that. It was a very good win for us,” Luke said. “Oh, he’ll be out for revenge, but he’ll not be getting it.”
At the World championships in Hamburg he met another Olympic bronze medallist, Artem Harutyunyan. “The German in Germany. I think the crowd got to us. I was boxing the Olympic bronze medallist and he was on all the posters in Germany. I drew him in the second fight. I think I tried too hard. I think I tried to knock him out, rather than just outboxing him. I was boxing with my heart rather than my head. I got pulled into a fight rather than trying to outbox him,” Mccormack recalled. “It was [literally] his hometown. That was my first World championships, it’s just a learning curve.”
‘I TRIED TO KNOCK HIM OUT, RATHER THAN OUTBOXING HIM’