McCormack hits new heights with victory for Lionhearts
BIRTLEY’S head coach Graeme Rutherford paid tribute to Luke McCormack after his victory in the British Lionhearts’ opening World Series Boxing fixture.
Though the Lionhearts lost 3-2 to the France Fighting Roosters in Paris McCormack overcame Massi Tachour in their light-welterweight match.
“It was the best I’ve seen Luke box for the first three rounds,” maintained Rutherford.
“It was a pleasure to see that what he had learned from the Worlds and worked hard on since coming out in the ring with a good performance.”
Luke added: “The lad I was up against has had more than 10 fights as a pro so he knew what he was doing and was a tough opponent.
“The tactics were to keep him at range which I did for the first three rounds.
“I mixed it up a bit after that and it got scrappy but I definitely deserved the win.
“We do a lot of gym work at GB with the strength coach and I am feeling a lot stronger within myself.
“Being able to mix it with an opponent like that shows I am making good progress.
“I always enjoy competing the WSB and am looking forward to going along and supporting my brother Pat and clubmate Calum in the next one in Gateshead.
“It should be a really great match and it’s just a shame that my weight class does not feature on the night as I would have loved to box in WSB in the North East.”
Sunderland’s Kiaran MacDonald has been added to the Lionhearts team that will compete against the Croatian Knights at Gateshead Leisure Centre on Friday, February 16.
He joins Birtley pair Pat McCormack and Calum French in a line-up that includes two overseas selections, Joe Ward (Ireland) at lightheavyweight and Patrick Mailata (New Zealand) at super-heavyweight.
An appearance in WSB will provide MacDonald with an opportunity to impress the GB Boxing coaches with a view to getting promoted from the Podium Potential group to GB Boxing’s elite Podium squad.
“Some of the flyweights on Podium are moving up in weight so hopefully it means there is a space opening up for me,” said Kevin.