Walker vs McCormack Predictions: True grit as Olympian meets Brit champ

Conah Walker takes on unbeaten Olympic silver medalist Pat McCormack this Saturday, December 6. The fight takes place at the Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo. Matchroom’s big Monaco event is headlined by Shabaz Masoud vs Peter McGrail. DAZN will carry the event live on their platform.

Keep reading for my Walker vs McCormack predictions.

Walker vs McCormack Odds

Walker is your underdog, priced at 13/2. The hot prospect McCormack is a big favourite at 1/10 as he looks to continue his inexorable rise. The stalemate is marketed at 18/1.

Walker vs McCormack Fight Preview

Sometimes a boxing match comes along that represents something more. Walker and McCormack are two hard-working warriors who never back down. In that, they are aligned. But their respective routes to Saturday’s Monte Carlo showdown could not be more different.

McCormack has been tipped for the top ever since turning professional. Boxing rolls out the red carpet for its Olympians and the Sunderland man won silver at Tokyo 2020. McCormack has gone 8-0 with six knockouts, earning plaudits and lashings of hype as he has ascended to fourth in the WBA welterweight rankings.

Walker by contrast had a reported 33 amateur fights before turning over under the late, great Ricky Hatton. Without the crest of an Olympic wave to ride, Walker aimed to go the traditional route. He picked up the Midlands Area title in 202 but lost in a challenge for the English strap that same year. 

When Beswick hard-man Kane Gardner outpointed Walker over eight rounds in 2023, it looked like the Wolverhampton man had hit a ceiling. But an utterly thrilling fight with Lewis Crocker, now the IBF champion, enhanced Walker’s standing despite his defeat. That performance has aged very well given Crocker’s post-fight achievement.

The Crocker bout seemed to light a fire under Walker, who has scored his three best career wins since that 2024 war. He beat former European title challengers Lewis Ritson and Liam Taylor, the latter by knockout. Sandwiched in between was the sweetest and most dramatic victory; a come-from-behind stoppage of Harry Scarff to win the British and Commonwealth titles.

Those championships will not be on the line on Saturday, with the WBA international and IBF inter-continental welterweight titles up for grabs instead. But there is even more on the line than sanctioning body ranking belts. This is a battle of philosophies. 

Is that Olympic medal a silver spoon for McCormack? Can Walker cope with a man who has looked untroubled in dismantling good names like Robbie Davies Jr. and Miguel Parra in his last two fights? Walker has battled back through adversity. McCormack has achieved at the highest level. This meeting of the fistic minds sits on the knife-edge of competing ideologies.

Walker vs McCormack Full Card

Shabaz Masoud vs Peter McGrail

Conah Walker vs Pat McCormack

Beatriz Ferreira vs Elif Nur Turhan

Hugo Micallef vs Sean McComb

Johnny Fisher vs Ivan Balaz

Walker vs McCormack Prediction

I reckon this will be a real litmus test for McCormack. Davies was a good name but past his best. Parra was a decent gatekeeper. But Walker is in the form of his life, riding his three finest victories and having ascended to British and Commonwealth title class.

World class is of course the goal for McCormack, with his plum position in the WBA ratings a possible avenue to Rolly Romero’s world title in 2026. I think Walker can challenge at European level, but I think he is just short of the elite.

For that reason, I give McCormack the edge here. I reckon Pat can wear his man down here and walk away with a stoppage at 6/4.

Images: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.