THE LEGACY of a world-class Hunter boxer lives on in Dungog as a new memorial, designed by an Archibald Prize winner, was unveiled near the town on the 70th anniversary of the athlete's death.
Dunghutti man and Stockton resident, Dave Sands (born Dave Ritchie), remains one of Australia's foremost, if under-recognised, sporting figures.
Before his untimely death on August 11, 1952, Sands had achieved more than many athletes do over the course of a full career. At 26, he had competed in 110 fights globally, held five titles, had four children and owned a house in Stockton.
On Thursday, the final pieces were put in place for his new memorial just outside Dungog, at the site of Sands' fatal truck crash.
"We've always wanted something here that keeps his memory alive," Sands' grandson Chad Ritchie said.
"He may not be here anymore but his spirit is still around. This is something to make sure his legacy lives on forever because he's someone for not only Aboriginal kids and families to look up to but all Australians."
For design and construction work, Mr Ritchie enlisted the help of his cousin Shane Hickey and distant cousin, Archibald Prize winner, Blak Douglas.
"It's a pretty honourable thing to be involved in his history," Mr Douglas said.
"Dave Sands passed in an era which was incredibly racially divided which makes his story even more phenomenal."
Central to the memorial is a double-side image of Sands in a fighting pose set into laser-cut aluminium.
"The Dunghutti men are known for their good looks. You have this baby-faced weapon of a fighter, it's kind of a blurred reality."
Around the life-size image, there are four boomerang-shaped seats set out to mirror a yarning circle and also the white star Sands wore on his boxing shorts for the Northern Star Hotel in Hamilton.
"We have red, black and yellow pigmentation achieved through oxides in the concrete which look pretty impressive," Mr Douglas said.
"Everyone deserves a chance to tell their story but to be able to unite with my distant cousins and do this in my great-uncle's legacy is something else.
"Hopefully this has a domino effect and more communities start to recognise overlooked athletes from their past."
Sands, one of six brothers known as the 'fighting Sands', started boxing professionally in Newcastle in 1941. He went on to hold the Australia middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight titles as well as Australasian and British Empire titles.
He claimed the Empire title by beating Englishman Dick Turpin in the first round. At the time of his death, Sands was training to fight Randolph Turpin (Dick's brother) for the world middleweight title.
The natural middleweight was inducted into the Australian sports Hall of Fame in 1986 and the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998.
"Going over to America and accepting the induction for my grandfather when I was 17 was the highlight of my life," Mr Ritchie said.
"They talk about Anthony Mundine and Tony Mundine and all that but this person is who they looked up to. Dave Sands is who Lionel Rose and even Arthur Beetson looked up to.
"Especially for Aboriginal men back then, it was very tough. They weren't allowed in places and weren't given many jobs."
Having lost their father early on, the Sands brothers cut timber sleepers in their hometown of Kempsey to support the family when they were young.
"Whenever any of the brothers were getting ready for a fight they would go back to cutting timber because it made them strong, " Mr Ritchie said.
"It was my grandfather's seventh wedding anniversary the day he died and he was up here dropping the family off, to set up a training camp and cut some timber, when they got to roadwork and unfortunately crashed.
"That was at around 6.30pm and by 9.30pm he had died from his wounds in Dungog Hospital."
Sands relocated to Newcastle from Burnt Bridge near Kempsey as a teenager to pursue his boxing career and at 19 moved to Stockton with Mr Ritchie's grandmother, Bessie.
"Nan would tell us about how he was quiet but a real jokester," he said.
"He was really respectable, never drank, never swore. He always made sure he looked after his family back in Kempsey and in Stockton and would give you the shirt off his back.
"We lost Nan in 2016 and it felt like losing connection to him too."
Two anecdotes stand out in Mr Ritchie's mind that highlight his grandfather's character.
"On the night of his wedding he got married, went across to Newcastle stadium to fight and knocked the guy out. Then came back to the reception. That shows how much he cared for his family," he said.
"He would also get very homesick so after a big win in Sydney when everyone else was partying, you would find him on the bench with a family pie or two waiting for the paper train home."
In 2019, Mr Ritchie visited the existing memorial and found it "covered in graffiti and ready to be knocked down". After consulting with the Kay McBride, who lives directly across the road from the site, they got to work fundraising for a new memorial.
"We got in contact with Rotary and went under their banner and just contacted anyone and everyone we could to get donations," Ms McBride said.
A fundraising event was held at Ms McBride's house which saw donated items from hay bales, to trees and sporting memorabilia - including signed gloves from Daniel Geale - auctioned off.
They raised more than $15,000 in total which was doubled by a private donor and $10,000 added from Dungog Council. Including donated material, Mr Ritchie said the new memorial is worth around $50,000.
An official opening will be held at the site on Saturday and Mr Ritchie, along with Blak Douglas, intend to have a bronze statue of Sands erected in Kempsey in the near future.
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