Champion boxer Gairy St Clair avoids prison after mask beat-up at Sydney pharmacy

Former pro boxer Gairy St Clair was to be jailed after punching a pharmacy security guard over a mask — until a judge, and an old ring foe-turned-lawyer, intervened.

Gairy St Clair, (right) leaves Downing Centre Court after winning a sentence appeal on Friday with his lawyer and former ring opponent Lovemore Ndou. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

Sydney boxer Gairy St Clair is used to throwing hands in the ring — but the two-time world champion let fly with a volley of punches after being asked to fix his mask and landed himself months in prison.

Now a judge has intervened.

St Clair fought under the name “Superman” and was trained by legendary Johnny Lewis OAM — the man who coached Jeff Fenech, Jeff Harding and Kostya Tszyu to the top.

But, by September 2021, St Clair was under pressure with his gym in South Sydney shuttered under Covid restrictions and a new baby.

That month St Clair walked into a Miranda pharmacy with his mask hanging under his nose, the Local Court heard, when a security guard asked him to pull it up.

St Clair and his lawyer pose with a man outside court following their appeal victory. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

St Clair did, but the mask drooped again and the security guard asked him to fix his mask once more.

The pro boxer approached the guard and stood close before the guard put his hands on St Clair’s waist and led him outside.

St Clair fired off at least four punches, the court heard, striking the guard in the head.

“I’m a fighter, I punched him,” St Clair told police, adding the guard had pushed him and it was “self defence”.

St Clair apologised and pleaded guilty when he faced court.

Sutherland Magistrate Paul Lyon sentenced St Clair to three months prison in October last year to the surprise of the boxer’s lawyer, Lovemore Ndou.

Britain's Amir Khan, left, throws a punch at Gairy St Clair of Australia during their Commonwealth lightweight title boxing match at the ExCel Centre in London, 2008.

Mr Ndou, also a former professional boxer, who once fought St Clair in the ring, immediately launched an appeal.

St Clair was bailed as Mr Ndou told reporters the sentence was an “injustice”.

“Gairy wasn’t sentenced on the facts. He was sentenced for being a boxer,” Mr Ndou said outside court.

The boxers faced the NSW District Court on Friday asking Judge Mark Williams to reduce the sentence.

Judge Williams said St Clair’s boxing titles “did not give him permission to go bashing people”.

But, he said, St Clair did a lot of charity work and had put money into the community.

Judge Williams and even the Crown prosecutor agreed the three months was “too harsh”.

St Clair had his prison sentence converted to a community corrections order for three months.

St Clair made his professional debut in Guyana in 1994 and went on to compete in 21 professional boxing contests in Guyana, America and Canada before moving to Australia in 2001 to continue his boxing career, his gym website said.

St Clair won his final professional boxing bout in 2013 before retiring from boxing with a record of 60 bouts before opening his gym in 2017.