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(continuation)
Opening Bout
17 year-old Dave Sands had slipped in and out of the IBL's June selection trials in Sydney almost unnoticed, quickly returning to his hometown of Stockton near Newcastle on the New South Wales central coast once they were over. The modest teenager attracted little attention before, during and after the trials, the exception being that a number of IBL officials definitely noticed him and signed him to a contract to participate in the league's Middleweight regional qualifiers. IBL Chief Director Raymond Bell had been very impressed by Sands' boxing ability but the young man's reserved nature seemed to work against him as he was not recognised as a genuine tournament contender at the trial's conclusion. Strangely, Sands has garnered little publicity outside of Stockton, Australian boxing writers preferring to focus on names such as Peter Jackson, Jeff Fenech and Albert Griffiths. However, there's little doubt that after tonight's performance Sands will start getting noticed in his homeland as he kicked off the event with a clear cut unanimous decision win over Tadashi Mihara (58-55, 59-54, 58-55).
Working against both a parochial crowd and an opponent desperate for victory Sands had little trouble in securing the verdict. It was obvious after the 1st round that he was a class above Mihara, a swift jab and rapid-fire combinations keeping the Japanese fighter on the back foot. Sands followed the same gameplan throughout the fight, picking off his determined foe with precision lefts and rights. The Australian wore knee-length trunks of white with green trim, SANDS stencilled in yellow on the waistband. His calm, controlled demanour remained a constant, even when Mihara had the crowd on their feet with his first sustained success of the contest in the final round.
Japanese fight fans are nothing if not fair and even though their support was fully behind Mihara they applauded Sands' masterful display once the bout was over. The Australian showed little emotion after the verdict, simply raising his left fist in acknowledgment of the audience. Mihara was close to tears, appearing ashamed that, as the first Japanese fighter to appear in the tournament, he had failed to achieve victory. Sands landed 150 of 446 punches (33.6%), Mihara 82 of 330 (24.8%).
Sands is clearly a reserved, introverted individual and while those characteristics won't help to improve his public profile, there's no denying that he's one skilled boxer. It appears that silver medallist Les Darcy will have some stiff competition as far as the title of Australia's best Middleweight is concerned.
(to be continued)
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