‘Fighting Sands’ brothers to be honoured by Kempsey race day, but deserve to be Hall of Famers

The Fighting Sands, six brothers who conquered the boxing ring across Australia and the Commonwealth post-WWII, will be honoured in Kempsey this weekend, but deserve even greater recognition.

Dave and Clem Sands, two of the six Fighting Sands brothers.

The famous fighting Sands brothers are back in the ring for another swing.

The legendary Aboriginal boxing family from the 1940s and 1950s is being honoured at Saturday’s race meeting at Kempsey on the NSW mid North Coast.

Every race on the program is named in memory of the Sands siblings, who remain one of Australia’s most revered First Nations sporting families.

Known as the Fighting Sands, the six proud Dunghutti men, Clem, Percy, George, Dave, Alfie and Russell, all became legends of the fight game after the Second World War, accruing an impressive collection of state, national and Commonwealth titles.

Dave Sands spars with Snowy Phillis in an exhibition bout in a tent at the Royal Easter Show, in 1951

The most successful and famous of the brothers was Dave, who won middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight titles and regularly fought in front of crowds in excess of 10,000 people, in Australia and overseas in the United States and Britain.

He famously defeated Englishman Dick Turpin to win the British Empire Middleweight Championship in 1949, but tragically died in a truck accident at the age of 26 before he could get a shot at a world title that he surely would have won had lived longer.

George Sands (right), helping his brother Clem with his gloves.

The World Boxing Hall of Fame formally acknowledged that when he was inducted in 1998.

Recognition in Australia has been somewhat slower. In 2022, Sands’ family were presented with a replica of the belt he earned for knocking out Turpin in the first round.

Sands’ nephew, Phillip Dotti, a former NRL player for Eastern Suburbs and Cronulla, was instrumental in getting the belt, and has joined the fight to have the family recognised.

The Sands’ family hail from the Kempsey region so when Dotti approached the race club, the response he got was exactly what he hoped for.

Chad Ritchie, grandson of Dave Sands, with the plaque he received from the Boxing Hall of Fame in the USA honouring his grandfather.

“I have to congratulate the Kempsey club for their support. As soon as I asked them, the president of the club and the secretary of a club just said ‘this is a no-brainer, let’s do it,’” Dotti said.

“The race day is an important day and a great honour.

“Dave Sands was the first Australian to go overseas, the first Aboriginal to go overseas and the first to bring a title belt back to Australia. So this is about legacy, this is folklore.

“What we’d like to see happen now is for the family to be recognised by the Australian Hall of Fame, because what they achieved is unprecedented.

“Where in the world in any sport, have there been six brothers who were all professionals?

“These guys were bigger than Ben Hur. They were leaders, they were main event fighters, they won titles. They should be recognised in the Hall of Fame.”

Originally published as ‘Fighting Sands’ brothers to be honoured by Kempsey race day, but deserve to be Hall of Famers