Boxing World Championship: Pat McCormack robbed in Shakhram Giyasov defeat

Pat McCormack

By ROY KELLY

Sunderland Echo

Pat McCormack’s dream of bringing a medal home from the World Championships have been shattered by a disputed points decision. The 22-year-old was beaten in his welterweight quarter-final in Hamburg last night by number one seed, Shakhram Giyasov. You could tell in the Uzbek corner, they knew their man was beaten RICHIE WOODHALL It was harsh in the extreme for McCormack, who appeared to have the better of a fascinating duel between two of the best U69 kilo operators on the planet. McCormack needed to produce the performance of his life to beat the boxer, from Uzbekistan, and he did just that, only for the officials to end his tournament prematurely. All five scored the bout for the Olympic silver medallist, the officials from Korea, Hungary and Algeria marking it 29-28, with the observers from Kazakhstan and Latvia awarding all three rounds to the favourite, denying the Wearsider a place in the last four and a guranteed medal. The announcement was greeted with both anger and disbelief from the British contingent in the German arena. Those fans had witnessed an incredible match between the first and eighth seeds. Pat began the opening round with a neat jab and a cracking left to the head of Giyasov, who chased after the Washington box with a trademark low left hand. Giyasov started the second session equally as aggressively, and was particularly left-hand-happy. But while he ploughed forward, his opponent was clinical in his punching, landing a left-right combination and a number of straight head shots with both gloves. Giyasov ended strongly but the round looked to have belonged to the excellent McCormack. “Fast returns” was the command of GB coach Dave Allaway before the final three minutes and Pat duly followed orders. The Uzbek man went on the attack but missed as often as he connected, but there were no such problems for the Birtley ace, who countered brilliantly on the backfoot. It was not one-sided – Giyasov attacked throughout but the best punching came from McCormack, who was hard done to by the verdict. Former WBC world champ, Richie Woodhall, commentating for BBC, was staggered by the decision. “Only one winner for me,” he said. “It was a good, measured display by McCormack. “McCormack was the better boxer, he won that contest. “You could tell in the Uzbek corner, they knew their man was beaten.”