BOXING
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"IF the fight wasn't in Orange we would have pulled the pin."
Renowned boxing trainer Lincoln Hudson, Orange southpaw Sam Ah-See's new mentor, pulled no punches after his charge's dominant unanimous points win over Arnel Tinampay, saying the 24-year-old shouldn't have fought.
Ah-See hurt his hand just over a week ago in training, during a sparring session to be exact, and the injury was bad enough to prompt Hudson into saying if it wasn't in front of his home crowd there is no way it would've gone ahead.
"It was a good performance, but the reality is Sam hurt is hand leading in. If the fight wasn't in Orange we would've pulled the pin," Hudson said.
Ah-See is thought to have hurt a metacarpal on his favoured left hand, badly enough for the fight doctor to check his mitt for a fracture directly after the fight.
The 24-year-old, undefeated, former national champion confirmed the injury, admitting he'd keep it quiet in the lead up.
"I hurt it eight days ago, sparring," Ah-See said.
"If I wasn't locked into a fight in Orange, my hometown, I would've pulled the pin."
Despite the injury Hudson was over the moon with Ah-See's performance, particularly because it dispelled any doubts over who really was the best fighter, based on the Orange southpaw's controversial majority decision over Tinampay in 2013.
"So, seems last time around there was controversy, a lot of people said the other guy won," Hudson said.
"This time around we came in three kilos lighter and Sam did it with one hand, and dominated.
"We got stuck in the mud a little bit, his hand started worrying him a little bit and he stayed,"
"But he also showed glimpses of brilliance and if we continue on down that road I think we'll do some big things."
With a 13-0-1 record, Ah-See said he will start looking for bigger fights, but conceded the injury will set him back slightly. He also alluded to another bout in Orange, potentially.
"There is talks of a regional belt fight," he said.
"That could be in Orange. Matty (Rose, Ah-See's manager) and I have spoken about it and anything can happen. I can't make any promises.
"There was also talk of getting onto a Danny Green undercard in the next three or so weeks, but I'm not sure my hand would stand up to it."
