Boxer Pat McCormack to make professional debut in front of home crowd in Newcastle
Olympic silver medallist Pat McCormack has lofty ambitions ahead of his professional debut in front of a home crowd on Friday night.
The Birtley boxer said: "If you're not looking at world titles then you're in the wrong game."
McCormack was beaten by Roniel Iglesias in the men's welterweight final at Tokyo 2020, rounding off an amateur career that also included gold at the Commonwealth Games and silver at the World Championships.
The 26-year-old is well aware he will have to climb the ladder in the paid ranks ahead of the start of his journey against Justin Menzie in a six-round contest at Newcastle's Utilita Arena.
Danny Mendoza was McCormack's original opponent although it is understood the durable Nicaraguan, who has never been stopped despite losing seven of his 13 professional fights, missed his flight to the UK.
The ticket, which is jointly headlined by local fighters Lewis Ritson, Troy Williamson and Thomas Patrick Ward, with Ben Rees also making his professional debut.
"I'm proud of what I've done in the amateurs," he told the PA news agency.
"I was ready for the next step. Now it's here and I'm ready for it. I finished the amateurs on top but with the pros I'm going to have to start at the bottom again. You can expect some big performances, some big nights back in the North East and just a bit of class.
"If you're not looking at world titles then you're in the wrong game but I know that's a few years down the line. I'm just going to take it step-by-step, keep improving, training and learning and we'll get to where we need to be."
McCormack's twin brother Luke also competed at last year's Olympics and willembark on his own professional career next month.
Pat, the elder of the two by 45 minutes, said: "We have a very close relationship. We're twins, we do everything together. When he's fighting I get more nervous than I do when I'm fighting.
"There's never any rivalry. I want him to win more than I want myself to win sometimes. We're fighting together, not against each other."
McCormack is grateful for the role boxing has played in his life, adding: "There was a lot of different paths I could have gone down and I picked the best one.
"I could have easily slipped into doing something else that wouldn't have been positive but I always stuck to my boxing and training and I've got where I needed to be."
The first fight on Probellum Boxing Throwdown event