Pat McCormack headlined a card at Rainton Meadows Arena in Houghton-le-Spring, and the local lad impressed as he forced Miguel Parra to retire ahead of the tenth and final round in an eliminator for the WBA welterweight title.
McCormack took a big step in his pursuit of world glory against Miguel Parra
2020 Olympic Silver medallist McCormack (8-0, KO6) had Robbie Davies Jr down three times before forcing a retirement after six rounds in his most recent outing in February, while Mexico’s Parra (25-6-1, KO17) travelled to Spain to force Nestor Gonzalez to retire after three rounds in his last assignment in July.
McCormack started well, and worked impressively off his jab, while also landing a solid combination in the second round.
McCormack was happy being centre-ring and his right hand was constantly finding the mark, with Parra trying his hardest, but struggling to make any real impact.
The visitor unravelled briefly in the fifth, and he was sending distress signals to his corner with McCormack landing more and more spiteful shots, although McCormack was docked a point in the next for a low blow, and the frustration was building with the Mexican not getting a foothold in the contest.
McCormack landed a cracking right hand that stunned Parra in the seventh, but again he held firm, however the pattern had been set early on, and McCormack pushed for a stoppage, pouring on the pressure in the penultimate frame.
A sustained assault at the end of the round did the trick, as Parra failed to come out for the final session, and the fight was over.
Mark Dickinson vs Troy Williamson
Mark Dickinson (8-2, KO2) lost his English super middleweight title on the scales as he came in a whopping five pounds overweight for his clash against Troy Williamson (21-4-1, KO15), and he paid dearly, as Williamson wore him down for a ninth-round stoppage win to take the belt.
It was an absorbing fight, with back and forth action throughout, and with Dickinson fading, a left hook followed by a stunning straight right had Dickinson down heavily, and although he beat the count, a swift follow-up attack saw the referee jump in to end the bout.
Remaining Undercard
Former world champion Sandy Ryan (8-3-1, KO3) made a winning return after back-to-back defeats to Mikaela Mayer, and she dominated her ten-rounder at welterweight against Jade Grierson (5-1-1, KO2), winning widely on points.
Ryan outworked her game opponent, and came out the victor by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.
In the sole eight-rounder, Cameron Vuong (9-0, KO4) won all available sessions against Reuquen Cona Facundo Arce (18-21-2, KO7) at lightweight, and then had a war of words with former British champion Gavin Gwynne at ringside.
In the only six-rounder at bantamweight, Tiah Mai Ayton (2-0, KO2) dropped Lydie Bialic (3-4-1, KO1) twice en route to a fourth-round stoppage win.
In four rounders, heavyweight prospect Leo Atang (2-0, KO2) needed less than a round to dispose of Cristian Uwaka (1-6-1, KO1), with the visitor down twice before being halted, and cruiserweight debutant Bradley Casey (1-0, KO0) decked Goran Kozul (5-8, KO2) once in the opening round and once in the closing round in a 40-34 success.
18-year-old Bantamweight novice Adam Maca (2-0, KO2) took an impressive final-round stoppage win against Francisco Rodriguez (1-22, KO1), with the Spaniard down before his corner threw the towel in.
