GREAT START FOR LUKE
MCCORMACK BEATS HOME FIGHTER IN OPENING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS BATTLE
Luke McCormack has made a winning start at the European Championships – ruining the host nation’s hopes in the process..
The Washington boxer was drawn against the Ukraine’s Mger Oganisian in a preliminary bout in the light-welterweight division.
It was a tricky opener for McCormack, against a useful home fighter with an accurate left fist.
But the 22-year-old put his boxing together nicely to take victory via a split decision.
He will now face Johan Orozco Ojeda in Monday’s last-16 bout after the Spaniard had a unanimous points triumph against Austria’s Daniel Janicijevic.
McCormack will approach it in confident fashion after his display in his preliminary contest.
Itprovedanentertaining affair, with Oganisan lifting the Kharkiv crowd with five eye-catching single shots with McCormack, much the taller of the U64 kilo rivals, producing the better variety.
In fact, so good was the left of the Ukrainian in the first round that the third which landed on the head of McCormack drew a nod of acknowledgement from the Birtley ABC star.
For all those moments when the crowd roared, it was the man in the blue corner, who had the better of the opening three minutes, connecting with both gloves.
McCormack was not as slick in the early exchanges of the middle session as the more compact Oganisian moved forward with a measure of success.
It meant it was all down to the final three minutes of this intriguing match.
And McCormack did not disappoint, beating his opponent to the punch before finding Oganisian’s chin with two upper cuts.
A left-right rocked back the head of the 23-yearold who was made to miss by the European Under 22 champion.
McCormack was in dominant form and landed right upper cuts at will as he finished the fight on top.
Luke was already beginning to raise his left hand before the result was even announced and the judges did not let him down, to the cheers of a noisy British contingent at the Lokomotyv Sports Palace.
Twin brother Pat opens his programme at welterweight today with a preliminary bout against Lithuania’s Saimonas Banys.