PAT McCORMACK moves up a few levels in competition for his next fight on February 15 in Manchester.
The 29-year-old Sunderland welterweight will climb through the ropes at the Co-op Live Arena knowing a win over Robbie Davies Jr, 24-5 (15 KOs), can make up for lost time.
McCormack, 6-0 (4 KOs), faces the former British, Commonwealth and European super lightweight champion over 10 rounds on the Jack Catterall-Arnold Barboza undercard. Since making his professional debut in March 2022 McCormack has fought just six times in nearly three years having won Olympic Silver at the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Davies Jr celebrated his 35th birthday in October but showed the hunger is still alive battling to a 95-94 points win over former WBA ‘Regular’ super featherweight titlist Javier Fortuna in Belfast. While the Dominican has seen better days it kept the career of Davies Jr alive after a Fight of the Year contender defeat to Sergey Lipinets in May. The Kazakh ‘Samurai’ faces another British opponent – Adam Azim – on February 1.
Alongside Catterall-Barboza, McCormack-Davies Jr, the rearranged British and Commonwealth super featherweight title grudge match between Reece Bellotti and Michael Gomez Jr is another intriguing domestic battle. Former world title challengers Zelfa Barrett, 31-2 (17 KOs), and Jazza Dickens, 34-5 (14 KOs), will clash in a super featherweight crossroads battle where a tough road back beckons for the loser. Barrett, 31, has been out of action since April 2024 after putting in an impressive display to stop Jordan Gill in 10 rounds. Dickens, meanwhile, has won two low-key bouts since losing an IBO title fight against Hector Andres Sosa in July 2022.
Barrett, who lost to Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov during an IBF Super Featherweight title tilt in November 2022, is ranked at six and seven with the IBF and WBA, respectively. Dickens, 33, has had two unsuccessful challenges for world honours against Guillermo Rigondeaux, at super bantamweight, and Kid Galahad at featherweight.
