A welterweight clash between Pat McCormack (6-0, 4 KOs) and Robbie Davies Jnr (24-5, 15 KOs) has been added to the undercard of the interim WBO super lightweight title fight between Jack Catterall and Arnold Barboza Jnr.

The show takes place on February 15th at Manchester's Co-Op Live Arena and will be televised on DAZN worldwide.

McCormack, from Washington in England, is regarded as an outstanding talent but his progress has been slow since turning professional after winning a silver medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Injuries and inactivity have restricted him to to just six appearances in almost three years. The 29-year-old shut out the decent Williams Herrera last October but picked up a late cut, grinding any momentum to an immediate halt.

He and his team have clearly decided the time has come to take a calculated gamble and will now step up a number of levels against former British and European champion Davies Jnr.

The Liverpudlian has enjoyed a successful career but has endured an up-and-down 18 months. He spent 14 months on the sidelines after breaking his ankle during a stoppage loss to Darragh Foley in March 2023 but rather than dipping his toe back into the water, plunged directly into a brutal fight of the year contender against former IBF super lightweight champion Sergey Lipinets last May.

Despite being dropped three times and losing a unanimous decision, Davies Jnr gave the tough Kazakh all he could handle during their ten-round contest in Florida.

In November, he rebounded to outpoint Dominican veteran Javier Fortuna over ten rounds at welterweight but suffered a knockdown in the process.

Now training with former WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla, Davies Jnr was linked to a fight with Harlem Eubank (20-0, 8 KOs) but with no deal forthcoming, has instead elected to take on the dangerous McCormack over ten rounds.