Boxing
Pacquiao, Garcia, Romero: Who is McCormack in line to face if he wins world title eliminator?
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Pat McCormack will top the bill in his hometown of Sunderland when he faces Mexico’s Miguel Parra on Saturday night, live on DAZN.
The 30-year-old Brit has been given some added motivation ahead of the contest after it was confirmed earlier this week that this weekend’s fight is now an eliminator for a shot at the WBA welterweight title.
McCormack has only had seven professional fights since leaving the amateur ranks behind after winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but has made swift progress to move towards world honours.
He is now closing in on facing some of the biggest names at 147lbs.
Here, we assess potential future opponents for McCormack if he can get past Parra on Saturday.
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Rolando RomeroMatchroom Boxing
Let’s start with the current WBA champion, Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero. The 29-year-old pulled off one of the upsets of the year in May when he outpointed Ryan Garcia.
That fight was for the WBA (Regular) belt, but Romero was subsequently upgraded to full champion after Jaron Ennis opted to vacate his title to move up to super welterweight.
Romero is currently searching for his next opponent and McCormack could put his name in the mix if he wins in impressive fashion against Parra.
Romero is coming off the back of the biggest win of his career, but he has been stopped twice by Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz.
These losses have shown he is far from invincible and McCormack may fancy his chances if he can get himself in position to challenge Romero for his title.
Manny Pacquiao
Romero has been heavily linked with a fight against boxing legend Manny Pacquiao later this year.
Pacquiao returned from a four-year layoff to draw with WBC champion Mario Barrios in July as the 46-year-old proved he can still compete at the highest level.
He is adamant he can win another world title and has set his sights on the outspoken Romero rather than chasing a rematch with Barrios.
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If Pacquiao does get his shot at Romero and beats him, he would be the new WBA champion and McCormack would undoubtedly relish the opportunity to share the ring with an icon of the sport, especially with a title on the line.
Admittedly, it seems unlikely that Pacquiao would actually face McCormack at this stage of his career as he wants to take the biggest fights possible.
But McCormack could still throw his name into the hat by beating Parra, and Pacquiao has never fought in the UK before. Could he be tempted over to Britain to tick that off his bucket list before hanging up his gloves?
Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions
Ryan Garcia
Garcia suffered a major setback when he was beaten by Romero earlier this year and he has since undergone hand surgery to fix a problem he sustained in the build-up to that fight.
The clash with Romero lacked action as Garcia struggled to gain a foothold and there have been few calls for an immediate rematch.
But Garcia wants to settle the score with Romero in a return fight before the end of the year.
If he gets his wish, Garcia will have the chance to become a full world champion for the first time in his career.
McCormack could then be waiting in the wings for the controversial American and will believe he can hurt Garcia after he was stopped by Gervonta Davis back in 2023 and then dropped by Romero last time out.
Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda
Conor Benn
McCormack may have to wait for his shot at glory after this weekend while Romero picks his opponent for his next fight, which is expected to be in December.
If he does have to bide his time, McCormack could target domestic dust-ups instead. This is where Conor Benn could come into the frame.
Benn is scheduled to face Chris Eubank Jr in a rematch on November 15, but is expected to drop back down from middleweight after that fight.
He is still highly ranked at 147 by the WBA and may want to improve his ranking further by taking on a fellow contender.
McCormack could be an option for him, with the winner then being well-placed to get a title fight.
Jack Catterall
Another potential British rival for McCormack is Jack Catterall.
Catterall moved up to welterweight for his last fight to beat Harlem Eubank by technical decision and looks set to stay in the division for now.
Following that victory, Catterall is now just above McCormack in the WBA rankings after claiming the organisation’s vacant International title.
Catterall came so close to being the undisputed champion at super lightweight back in 2022 when he was controversially outpointed by Josh Taylor.
He has proved his world-class credentials and still has ambitions of becoming a champion before he walks away from the sport.
A domestic showdown between McCormack and Catterall would pit two classy operators against each other, with the victor having every chance of going on to challenge for a world title.
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