Sam Ah See had been at Brisbane for less than an hour when he heard the news that Koen Mazoudier had withdrawn from their upcoming Townsville fight, putting a halt to the long-awaited August 26 comeback and leaving the Canobolas Rural Technology High School student with a lot of confusion over his fighting future.
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To spend months dedicating yourself emotionally and physically for a fight, only to have the bout pulled out from under you with only two weeks to go is something Ah See can only describe as 'draining'.
Even though the process is an arduous one, he doesn't hold any ill feelings towards his would-be opponent, admitting that these aren't ideal times to be training and preparing for competition.
"I'm so zapped for energy right now," Ah See said.
"There's been a heap of hiccups in my career so far so I'm used to this sort of thing....I'm not bitter or angry and I've got no hard feelings towards Koen.
"Sometimes fighters get funny with disruption in the lead-up and maybe there was just too much going on. I know he [Mazoudier] trains out of Blacktown and there's a few hotspots out there so maybe that one of the factors that led to it."
While the reasoning behind Mazoudier's withdrawal hasn't been confirmed, it makes no difference to Ah See as the reality is now that he's without a fight, and doesn't know when he'll feel like teeing up a bout again, especially under the current climate.
"It's one step at a time for me right now," he said.
"The last few years have just been so full on. Two months after I walked away from the sport I found out my dad had cancer.
"I'd just decided I wanted to come back and I was in the best head space I've ever been in so it's unfortunate this has happened now."
The option for the event organisers to find another opponent was possible but it wasn't a path Ah See wanted to entertain this close to the fight.
The last two years have been so full on for me.
- Sam Ah See.
"I've been through all of that before and I just didn't have the patience to do it this time," he said.
"They probably could have found one but I didn't want to go through with it mentally."
And it's understanding that the 29-year-old didn't want to take a lucky dip at a new opponent after spending an entire fight camp preparing to fight a particular type of fighter, only to be given a new challenge at the last minute.
Ah See plans to go back to work and fishing in the near future and might entertain the idea of another fight but doesn't want to commit to anything right now as it's too taxing.
"My work roster was hectic and I had to get so many things changed around for the fight," he said.
"There were times where I was working 24-hour shifts then getting into Sydney traffic and going to the gym.
"I've gotten really into fishing lately - maybe a little too into it," he laughed.
It's been over five years since the undefeated Ah See has stepped into a boxing ring and at 29 years of age, the 13-0 southpaw smack-bang in his prime.
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