Portrait of boxer Dave Sands, c. 1950Memorial to Dave Sands in Glebe, Sydney
Dave Sands (born David Ritchie; 4 February 1926 – 11 August 1952) was an Australian professional boxer.
The man the Americans called the "boxer with the educated left hand" received his due when he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998 at a ceremony held in Los Angeles, recognised as one of the greatest boxers never to have won a world title.
He was born at Burnt Bridge Mission in Kempsey, New South Wales, the fifth of eight children of George Ritchie, a rodeo-rider and timber-cutter of mixed Aboriginal and European descent, and his Aboriginal wife Mabel, née Russell.
Sands' brothers Clement, Percival, George, Alfred and Russell also boxed, emulating their father and their maternal great-uncle Bailey Russell, a noted bare-knuckle fighter. In 1939, Percy travelled to Newcastle to train with Tom Maguire. At age 15, Sands joined Percy training with Maguire and both lived at Maguire's gym. He and his five brothers took on the Sands name, taken from train guard "Snowy" Sands who helped Percy travel fare-free to fight in 1940.
Career
Without Maguire's knowledge, Dave fought a four-round preliminary bout in August 1941 at Newcastle Stadium, swinging his way to victory in the first round. Maguire disapproved, but quickly transformed him into a skilled boxer. By the end of 1942, he had knocked out a dozen opponents at Newcastle. On 11 August 1945, he married 18-year-old Bessie Emma Burns at St Paul's Church of England, Stockton, New South Wales.
Sands was soon boxing in twelve-round matches before excited crowds of up to ten thousand people in Brisbane and Sydney. In May 1946, he defeated Jack Kirkham for the Australian middleweight title. Three months later, he knocked out Jack Johnson in four rounds to become national light-heavyweight champion. The rematches were even more one-sided: Kirkham was defeated in five rounds and Johnson fell after 2½ minutes of furious punching. By 1948, Sands had beaten all his local opponents and most American 'imports'. His mauling of a French fighter Tony Toniolo in less than two minutes in February 1949 led the English promoter Jack Solomons to take an interest in him.
Despite an enthusiastic reception from the British press, Sands began his campaign for a world title disastrously. In London on 4 April 1949, while suffering from a swollen, recently vaccinated arm, he was outpointed by Tommy Yarosz. Fifteen days later Sands won, dismally, against a spoiler, Lucien Caboche. Maguire then moved him to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where friendly locals and a promoter Joe Shepherd restored his confidence. After two solid victories, he returned to London and in July thrashed the much-fancied Robert Villemain in the 'fight of the year'. On 6 September, Sands demolished Dick Turpin in 2 minutes 35 seconds for the British Empire middleweight title.
Shortly after his triumphal return to Australia in November 1949, Sands survived a serious accident when the steering on his motorcar failed, and the vehicle somersaulted into a creek. Over the next eighteen months, he contested and won nine fights, one of them a fifteen-rounder in September 1950 in which he took the Australian heavyweight championship from Alf Gallagher. Sands had become a leading contender for the world middleweight title and Maguire vainly sought to arrange a bout with the American champion Sugar Ray Robinson. In the tricky maze of international boxing promotion, his efforts were marked by a paper chase of offers and counter-offers. Sands defeated Mel Brown in London in July 1951 in a preliminary to a title fight between Robinson and another contender Randolph Turpin. Had Maguire's negotiations succeeded, Sands would have been in Turpin's place and probably would have beaten an unfit Robinson, as did Turpin.
In October 1951, Sands won two fights in the United States. Back home, he hoped for a world title-bout, but he was estranged from Maguire. A new manager Bede Kerr reopened discussions with Robinson's connections, but the chance never came.
Death
On 11 August 1952, the truck Sands was driving with 15 passengers overturned at roadworks near Dungog, New South Wales.[1] Sands died of head and internal injuries that evening in the local hospital and was buried at Sandgate Cemetery, near Newcastle, New South Wales. His wife, and their son and two daughters survived him; their third daughter was born in November. Sands had earned about £30,000, but it went on manager's fees, travel costs, tax, family expenses and generosity to his kin. A public appeal raised more than £2500, sufficient to pay off his Stockton home and create a trust fund for his family.
