NATHAN STING: AUSTRALIA'S NEWEST WORLD CHAMP!

By Tony Nobbs

17.07 - In a brutal display, the Gold Coast's Nathan Sting (26-6-1, 13 KO) lived up to his nickname of 'The Real Thing' by battering defending champion Johnny Armour (29-2-1, 17 KO) to capture the WBU Bantamweight Title in front of a stunned and jam packed crowd at the Brentwood Leisure Centre in England on July 5.

And Australia's newest World Champion celebrated his victory by touring Britain and France along with trainer-manager Les Wilson, arriving at Brisbane Airport Tuesday night July 15 where they were greeted by Eastside - already looking forward to the first defence and singing the praises of Matchroom Promotions.

Before he left for England the long underrated and overlooked Sting realised there were not many people on both sides of the sea who gave him any real hope of defeating the credentialed Armour, a former European and Commonwealth Champion who entered the ring with a no. 7 rating by the WBA at Super Bantamweight. But Sting, a three time Australian Champion - twice at Bantamweight - who enjoyed a three inch height advantage over the popular veteran also knew that the only two people who really counted, he and Wilson were supremely confident that he could put in the kind of performance that has been rated by English observers as the best at top level by an Australian fighter on British soil in recent memory and was shown live on Sky TV.

Sting had previously boxed in England on four occasions - twice for the Commonwealth Title- and had been based there in 2001. His most recent bout there was a terrible decision loss to then WBC no. 2 Super Flyweight Dimitri Kirilov in a six rounder Sting clearly dominated on the Nelson-Dominguez card in Sheffield July 01. Soon after Sting had returned home, Kirilov moved up to number one.

"All the talk there was about Armour. We knew they didn't rate me much of a chance before the fight. It was a big atmosphere, he is a very big ticket seller and the fight was near where he comes from. Every time he threw a punch they'd cheer, even if it missed. They were blowing horns and everything but after a few rounds I took the crowd out of the fight. The promoter's looked after us and I can't wait to fight there again" said Sting proudly showing off his new belt and a gold ring given him by friend Shanee Martin.

Sting: "It was great. I had Shanee and her family and friends at the fight to support me. She was great when I stayed with her and Sam Soliman when I was in England last time. Shanee fought the next night and won, making the weekend even better! And my friend and gym mate Johnny Green helped me in the corner. Johnny's from Tasmania where I grew up and having another Tasmanian there was fantastic. And another mate who is there to help me in the gym and came up to the airport tonight with my dad is Shane Green. I didn't want any fan fare- just the people who are in my team and I can trust.

I was up for the fight. My weight was good- 8 stone 5 ¼. I went out there and did my thing. Les told me to basically go out and box and not do anything stupid. I got on him early and let him know he was in for a hard fight. As soon as he saw my speed and foot work he didn't know what to do. I cut him up but there wasn't a mark on me. I hardly got hit. After the fight his trainer and manager made excuses saying he only had four weeks to prepare. But I had the same notice. They reckon I'm the new Paul Ferrari and I'm stoked as Paul was a great fighter".

Darting in and out, grabbing angles and mixing his attack upstairs and down, Sting's dominance against his fellow southpaw was such that Armours trainer Mark Roe skied the towel with twelve seconds remaining in the eleventh. And it could have been stopped at anytime after the seventh the way Wilson seen it.

"If it was not a world title fight and Armour wasn't champion, it wouldn't have gone as long as it did. If I'd have been in Armour's corner I'd have stopped it a few rounds earlier" said Wilson who also trained Joe Bugner to the WBF Heavyweight Title in 1998.

"In the second round Nathan backed up to the ropes and Armour hit him with a good punch. But Nathan bounced back and hit him with a right hook that had him reeling. From that moment on I think the crowd realised that their boy was in trouble. Honestly, Nathan almost stopped him in rounds two and three. I'll tell you what- the other kid has a good chin and plenty of ticker.

Nathan went out and fought brilliantly. The fight went according to plan whether people will know it or not, the idea was to dominate the other bloke from the start.

Armour is held in such high regard over there, to beat him so convincingly in his back yard makes it an outstanding win. And it doesn't matter if Johnny Armour had one month or six months to get ready he wouldn't beat Nathan".

Wilson added Sting's first defence was likely to be against Nicky Booth and that he also wanted to thank the people involved in the promotion.

"John Wischhusen, the match-maker, John Mc Donald, the ring announcer and all the team at Matchroom were extremely professional in everything they did and helpful and courteous during our stay".

And after watching fights on the under card and a couple of other shows came away with the opinion that "All this bull about British fighters being better than Australian's is not true. The problem our boys have is they are not properly prepared and/or cocky when they go over. All they have over us is the fact they have more fighters over there".

Nathan's dad Michael Singh is Fijian- Indian and Sting, who turned 30 six days before the fight also became the first boxer of Fijian Heritage to win any type of World Title. Fiji's greatest boxer, Sakaraia Ve lost in nine rounds to Canada's Michael 'Silk' Olajide for the World Athletic Association Middleweight Title in 1985 and Welterweight Sovita Tabuarua was outpointed by Australian Jeff 'Flash' Malcolm for the WBF Title in 1994.

"I'm glad to have won it for my dad's people. But I won it for Australia. I'm a true blue Aussie and I fight under the Australian flag. My mum is Australian and I was born in Preston, Victoria and grew up in Tasmania after moving there when I was two days old. But it'd be great if it can inspire a few Fijian fighters. They have some good fighters there but don't get the opportunities we get. There is a lot of untapped talent in Fiji".

Turning pro in 1991 after starting out as an amateur with Tasmanian trainer Des Mills, Sting has come a long way from the scrawny teenager who made his way up to Melbourne to link with trainer Keith Ellis ( it was the colourful Keith who changed Nathan's surname for boxing). But according to 'The Stinger' the journey is just getting started.

"It's been a long time coming mate. We're putting the past behind us. And only looking forward. We've got what we wanted. This is a big Title in Europe and it's opened up the door. Before the fight the crowd were booing me but after it they loved me and want to see more of me. My style is more to there liking. They love good boxers and that is my strength but I've also proved I can excite".