SPORTS AWARDS
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ORANGE southpaw Sam Ah-See was inducted into the Orange Sporting Hall of Fame on Monday, just three days after extending his undefeated professional record against Filipino Arnel Tinampay at the Orange Function Centre.
Ah-See joined an elite club at Monday night’s Orange Credit Union Sports Awards ceremony, the Hall of Fame only includes seven other boxers in Glen Sutherland, Gary Williams, Bobby Williams, Steve Dennis, Pat Ford, Anthony Fisher and Billy Moeller and two trainers in Harry McDonald and Ken Williams.
Before Ah-See, Moeller was the last boxer to fight for a national title in Orange, in 1976.
“It’s a big achievement, I’m overwhelmed,” Ah-See, 24, said.
“Just to think when I was a kid I was coming through the ranks winning fights, winning trophies and now I’ve been inducted into the Hall of Fame. It’s a great feeling.”
Ah-See boasts a 13-0-1 record since turning professional in 2010, and is a former Australian National Boxing Federation super-welterweight champion.
He won said title in Orange over Brisbane’s Shannon King in February last year, but has since vacated it to chase another, dropping down a division to compete at welterweight.
Ah-See also won a plethora of state and national amateur titles, and fought as part of the Australian teams at the 2008 Youth Commonwealth Games and International Boxing Association Youth World Championships, in India and Mexico respectively.
VIDEO: Sam Ah-See speaks with Michelle Cook on Monday night:
“All my hard work has been recognised,” Ah-See beamed.
“My hometown is where the heart is, I’ve always been proud of where I’m from and my own community is recognising that.
“Winning the Australian title as a professional, here in Orange ... that’s probably the best memory of boxing that I’ve had.”
Ah-See said he’s pulled up surprisingly well from Friday’s easy win, but probably not well enough to feature on another of Danny Green’s undercards in a few weeks, thanks to a hand injury.
“Coming back to your home crowd is always big ... so if the Danny Green show didn’t go ahead, I’d be content [with the decision to] fight in Orange,” he said.
In terms of future goals, Ah-See had a simple answer - a world title, within the next three years.
“Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. You’ve got to surround yourself with the right people,” Ah-See said, when asked what he’d need to do to achieve the lofty feat.
“I believe I’ve found the right team. My new trainer Lincoln Hudson is very well connected ... he’s already spoken to me about the [International Boxing Organisation] world title.
“He said six months, he thinks I’ll be ready for it, but we’ll see what happens.
“But, by the sounds of it, it could be sooner rather than later.”