Just thought I'd share something I wrote on two of our best. http://www.boxing.com/darcy_and_sand..._too_soon.html
Hey Rise Above I haven't posted here for a long while but I was reading your article a few days ago great stuff really well written! I didn't know who Dave Sands was or that he beat so many great boxers. It is a shame he didn't get to mix it up with the likes of LaMotta and Robinson. I really enjoyed reading that article thanks for taking the time to write it.
Hey Daz, thanks for the kind words mate. Sands was one hell of a talent and he had quite the punch on him too. Definitely a real shame his life was cut short before he had the chance to get a shot at the bigger names in the middleweight division.
Great article. These guys are both from my home town, I used to hear a lot about Les Darcy when I was younger and my grandfather was friendly with all the Sands boys, worked with a couple of them and saw Dave fight whenever he could. One of my favourite books is this paperback I picked up years ago, "The Ballad of Les Darcy" by Peter Fitzimmons, really makes you wonder how far he would have gone if he didn't die so young.
Dempsey sure wasn't the only one, Jack Doc Kearns said that Darcy was the best middleweight of them all and said that Darcy would have beaten Doc's fighter, the great Mickey Walker, Gene Tunney also had high praise, Larry Foley said Darcy was the best fighter he had ever seen and he had seen and known Jem Mace and trained Bob Fitzsimmons, Young Griffo, Peter Jackson and Frank Slavin among others, and most of Darcy's opponents said he was so good that they thought him invincible, they also said he was the strongest guy ever. Now that should be enough to quell any doubts, that and his great resume.