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Dave Sands, born David Ritchie, (4 February 1926–11 August 1952) was an Australian Aborigine boxer.
Born into the Dunghutti tribe, Sands was a middleweight, but held the Australian Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight Championship titles at the same time. He was also a Empire Middleweight champion, winning the title from Randy Turpin's brother Dick.
Sands and Les Darcy are considered the two outstanding boxers in Australian history. Both were middleweights and both held the heavyweight title as well. They also both died at tragically early ages. Sands died in a truck accident near Dungog, New South Wales, at age 26 and was rated the number three Middleweight contender in the World behind Champion Sugar Ray Robinson.
Sands came from a large family of boxers, who all took the name Sands as their boxing name. There were six brothers of whom Dave was fourth. He also had a nephew who became a welterweight champion.
Referred to as "Australia's dapper, dark-skinned, dreamy-eyed boxing enigma", Sands trounced Dick Turpin in 165 seconds to win the Empire title. The fight was considered one of the most sensational ever seen in Britain. Following the fight, the referee congratulated Sands, saying "Good fight, son but give me something to do next time."
Sands was a shy man who was unable to deal with the media spotlight following his win in Britain and was sent to Paris by his manager to avoid the throngs of well-wishers and autograph hunters.
At the time of his death Sands record stood at 97 wins (62 by KO), 10 losses, a draw and 2 no-contests from 110 fights.
There are two memorials for Dave Sands in his home town of Stockton, near Newcastle, New South Wales; another memorial is situated at Glebe in Sydney. There is also a memorial rest park near Dungog where the fatal truck crash took place.
References
- The Advertiser (Adelaide), "Dave Sands Wins Empire Title in 165 Seconds", 8 September 1949, p. 12
- The Advertiser (Adelaide), "Sands goes to Paris to avoid well-wishers", 9 September 1949, p. 15
- Richard Broome, 'Sands, David (Dave) (1926–1952)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University Press, 2002, pp 174–175.
Reference sources
Pictures held and digitised as part of the Arnold Thomas boxing collection by the National Library of Australia
- Dave Sands, Empire and Australian Middleweight Champion and Tom Maguire, trainer
- British Empire title bout, Dave Sands, 11 st. 5 lb., K.O. Dick Turpin, 11 st. 3¾ lb., in the first round at Harringay Arena, England, September 6th 1949
- Dave Sands (left), 11 st. 7¾ lb. v. Henry Brimm, 11 st. 5½ lb., at Rushcutter's Bay Stadium, 8 August 1950