McCormack vs Parra Predictions: Sunderland homecoming for Olympic silver medallist

Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Pat McCormack gets his toughest pro test on Saturday, September 6 as he faces Miguel Parra. The amateur standout gets a hometown headliner for the first time as a pro. McCormack tops the bill at the Rainton Meadows Arena in Sunderland, with ex-world champ Sandy Ryan and English super middleweight boss Mark Dickinson on the bill. DAZN will screen the event live.

Read on for my McCormack vs Parra predictions.

McCormack vs Parra Odds

McCormack is fancied at 1/14 while Parra is priced at 15/2. The draw is marketed at 22/1.

McCormack vs Parra Fight Preview

McCormack is 30 years of age, which accounts for his fast-moving professional journey. Since turning over three years ago, the Tyne-and-Wear lad has avoided the journeymen of the sport. Instead, he has racked up a few signature wins already to earn with WBA welterweight title eliminator.

The best of the bunch came against Robbie Davies Jr. in his last outing. McCormack stopped the former world-ranked European champion in six ruthless rounds. Davies retired from the sport in the aftermath. It was a thoroughly impressive display from a fighter facing his trickiest test to date.

The whole McCormack record is strong considering it is only seven fights old. There are no fighters with losing records on there at the time he fought them. Williams Andres Herrera had been in with Paddy Donovan, who fights for the IBF welterweight belt next weekend. Tony Dixon had given Maxim Prodan a tough night, but McCormack stopped him in four. 

Of course, these are not world-beaters. Parra isn’t either. But they are quality, tricky learning fights on the way up for a man who cannot afford to hang around. With the welterweight division wide open, now is the time for McCormack to stake a claim.

Rolando Romero holds the WBA belt at present, which this fight is ostensibly an eliminator for. Of the three current champs (with the IBF belt Donovan and Lewis Crocker will contest in Belfast being vacant), ‘Rolly’ is arguably the one who is there to be shot at. An exciting but vulnerable warrior, the vultures will be circling that title no doubt. 

Despite the lofty world title eliminator billing, the actual McCormack plan is a little more gradual. Speaking to ChronicleLive, the 30-year-old said, “I've got to keep winning with a good fight on Saturday. Then push on with a British or European title, something like that then we're there.”

The same interview did see the Olympic medalist target 2026 for lifting a world title, so McCormack is still moving quickly. Had injuries not hampered his intended journey, the amateur standout would likely have captured some of that regional gold already. But Parra is a chance to show what we’ve been missing.

Parra is the 12th-ranked welterweight in the world by the WBA, who have McCormack seventh. Neither man currently has a placement with the other three sanctioning bodies. But that’s the game.

Parra is not quite the world class fighter his billing suggests, but he is an excellent gatekeeper. 25-5-1, generally only top fighters have beaten him. Roiman Villa stopped him in four, but would go on to challenge for the IBF interim title. Parra has taken excellent fighters like Florian Marku and Shakhram Giyasov the distance. The latter saw Parra make a case, losing via split decision.

Three consecutive wins in very ordinary company have secured Parra this title eliminator. Such is life with the WBA. But his credentials are legitimate and not many welterweights would be queuing up to fight him in their eighth pro bout. This is a real fight for McCormack. A chance to flex his muscles in front of a hometown crowd and put on a show. If he doesn’t, that could paly right into Parra’s hands.

McCormack vs Parra Full Card

Pat McCormack vs Miguel Parra

Mark Dickinson vs Troy Williamson

Sandy Ryan vs Jade Grierson

Cameron Vuong vs TBA

Tiah Mai Ayton vs Lydie Bialic

Leo Atang vs Cristian Uwaka

Bradley Casey vs Goran Kozul

Adam Maca vs TBA

McCormack vs Parra Predictions

Five knockouts in seven wins shows McCormack can punch. One of his distance wins was a six-rounder too, so not necessarily representative of how his power carries. T

But I do see durability in Parra. Of his two knockout losses, one was against world-ranked Villa and the other was eight years ago. The Mexican has proven himself as an able survivalist in the intervening years.

With that being said, I do think McCormack takes almost every round here. The Sunderland lad will learn some tricks and Parra will make him work for it. But I see a one-sided, if tiring, unanimous decision in Pat’s favour. My tip is McCormack on points at 13/8.

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