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National
Sonia Sharma

Washington boxer Pat McCormack guaranteed Olympic medal as he reaches semi-final in Tokyo

North East boxer Pat McCormack has guaranteed himself an Olympic medal after reaching the semi-final stage in Tokyo.

The Washington lad's welterweight quarter-final fight on Friday ended in a 4-1 victory over Uzbekistan's Bobo Baturov.

It means the 26-year-old, whose twin brother Luke is also in the Team GB squad, will leave Tokyo with at least a bronze medal.

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Pat will next face Ireland's Aidan Walsh in the semi-finals on Sunday.

Pat and Luke are flying the flag for the North East at this summer's Olympic games in Japan.

The fighters, who hail from Birtley Amateur Boxing Club, were both named in the 11-strong Team GB boxing squad after claiming gold and bronze medals at the European Olympic Qualifiers in Paris.

Before jetting out to Tokyo, Pat told ChronicleLive he was "buzzing" to be competing alongside light-welterweight Luke and said it would be a "dream come true" if they could both bring medals back to the North East.

Despite going into the Olympics as number one seed, Pat insisted he would thrive off the pressure of being the man to beat.

"Experience is the main thing," he said. "I'm the man to beat when I go to this Olympics. I'll go there as number one seed so hopefully I can perform well and bring home the gold medal.

"When I went to Rio I was only 21. I've now got the experience and I've beaten world champions and Olympic medallists so I'm ready to go.

"I don't feel the pressure, it gives me confidence.

"I've got Luke there, he's shouting and that's all I need. It's the only voice I hear when I'm boxing."

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