BOXING
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TOO quick, too strong, too smart. Simply, too good.
On Friday night Orange's Sam Ah-See set the record straight, dominating his welterweight bout with Filipino Arnel Tinampay and putting to bed any doubt remaining from the pair's first fight in 2013.
Ah-See won that night too in Dubbo, under somewhat controversial circumstances, but in Friday night's rematch Ah-See took everything he's learned since and pummelled Tinampay into submission for eight rounds, scoring a comprehensive unanimous points victory.
Fresh off a three-month training camp with Fortune Gym in California and with new trainer Lincoln Hudson in tow, Ah-See took control of the fight from the first second and never let go, forcing all three judges to score in his favour - 80-72, 78-76, 78-73.
Making the win all the more impressive, Ah-See all but fought with one hand after injuring his favoured left mitt in sparring just over a week ago.
"Honestly, if I hadn't already been locked into a fight in Orange, my hometown, I would've pulled the pin," he said, moments after the fight.
"But, I couldn't be happier. We had a great turn out, I've got my team here, and [we've] trained for so long. Now it's time to relax.
"It was a tough fight. I think I won that fight in the gym. I just stuck to the game plan, and did what I had to do."
Ah-See looked a far more complete fighter than the last time he fought in Orange - just over 12 months ago against Shannon King, a fight in which he secured the Australian National Boxing Federation super-welterweight title - having shed the youthful bravado he bore, conveying a far more focused boxer this time around.
Ah-See's speed proved crucial as he held a rampant Tinampay, clearly hell-bent on knocking the southpaw out from the word go, at bay, jabbing efficiently and taking the fight to the Filipino's body in the opening round.
"It was a tough fight. I think I won that fight in the gym. I just stuck to the game plan, and did what I had to do."
Ah-See broke the Filipino's guard early in the second with a brutal uppercut, and when he followed it with a flurry of punches to counter another haphazard Tinampay overhead right, the visitor wobbled - badly.
But, in the third of the fight Ah-See's footwork lessened, and while Tinampay never gained the upper hand the Orange southpaw played into his hands for a short period, standing and trading blows.
Ah-See realised, and having reverted back his game plan and lightning fast jab he regained ascendency. So much so, Tinampay was visibly gassed as early as the fifth round, and his right eye was all but swollen shut by the end of the sixth.
In the final two rounds, with the fight all but won, Ah-See kept his focus and rode out a wave of tired, but still heavy, shots from Tinampay, countering effectively to claim the win.
"The first fight with Arnel, it was close, some say it was controversial," Ah-See said.
"I believe I won it, but I also learned from it. I had a feel for his rhythm (before Friday's fight).
"He was tired. I was surprised he was tired early. That gave me the confidence to keep pushing.
"I feel I won the fight from the get-go, mid-fight, to the end. Arnel is really unpredictable and I did get caught a couple of times. They didn't hurt, but they were good shots.
"If I was to get hit again (then), who knows what would've happened. With those type of guys you always have to be prepared."
Ah-See put the win, his 13th, down to one thing - hard work.
"I've got a good team. Linc has made me the three times the fighter I was when I went to him," Ah-See said.
"But I think it all comes from sacrifice, determination and focus. In the last six months I've really knuckled down, and it showed [on Friday]."