‘I was genuinely thinking of not fighting anymore’ -returning Graham McCormack came close to retirement

There were times over the last 18 months that Graham McCormack [5(1)-0] felt he would never fight again.

‘The G Train’ has been stuck in the station since the summer of 2019 and felt he may never get back on track when the pandemic hit.

The Limerick native now has a date and is set to fight in North Carolina alongside Declan Geraghty and Robert Burke next month.

McCormack is delighted to have something to focus on but the entertaining operator did admit at one point it looked quite possible he may never have graced a pro ring again.

“It has been frustrating not being able to fight. I’m not gettin’ any younger and it felt like it was never gonna’ come back, so now that I have a fight it’s great, great to finally see boxing back for me.”

The Shaun Kelly trained light middle did worry if a route back would open up for him and it did get to the point where he almost took things into his own hands and hung them up.

“Covid fucked up everything,” he adds.

“I was genuinely thinking of not fighting anymore, especially at the time when no one knew when boxing was gonna’ come back. But after chatting to my wife Lauren, my coach Shaun and my close mates I decided not to pack it in.

Even the thought of quitting passing McCromack’s mind seems to hurt. He has battled through adversity out of the ring before – and would have felt real regret if he had to call it a day.

“I am very proud of how far I have come in boxing and with proud of the life I came from. Now I have a good and busy life outside of boxing, but one thing I said when I turned pro was ‘I’m not gonna’ have any regrets’ – and I feel if I had packed it in, then down the line it would have eaten at me,” he continues before deliberately trying to turn things positive.

“Then this opportunity came about so I am back focused and hungry. It’s onwards and upwards from here.”

Before Covid struck McCormack was being mentioned on the domestic title front.

There was talk of a fight with the winner of Dominic Donegan and Eddie Treacy’s mandated light-middleweight BUI Celtic title fight as well as links to Craig McCarthy and an Irish title fight.

After the sabbatical, he just wants to focus on getting a win in America and focus on himself.

“There was talk of loads of fights before the pandemic, but right now, and I mean no disrespect to any other fighters, but I am not thinking of any fighters or other fighters.

“I feel I wasted a lot of my time looking for fights that were never gonna’ happen, so for now all I’m focused on is myself and my career. Look if these fights that have been talked about before come up then yeah I’ll take them, but it’s not my main focus right now. It’s all about America and after that, we will look at what’s next,” he adds.

“The plan now is to keep as active as I can. I’m not gonna take stupid fights for no reason. Shaun and I have a plan but the goal right now is to get the win in America.”