14.05.08 – By Vivek Wallace, Photos By: Anthonio Thrower (See Link To Photogallery At Bottom)- A couple weeks ago many eyes were opened when the article ‘Front and Center’ was released on Eastside Boxing which shed light on perhaps one of the sports most formidable female talents. After receiving tons of feedback, my personal sentiment – which was also echoed loud and clear by various emails – was that it certainly couldn’t hurt to reacquaint this new phenom with a fan base that continues to grow right before our eyes.
Recently, Sandy Tsagouris and famed trainer Billy Martin were in Miami Beach for some training for her upcoming fight against Kenya’s Judy Waguthii, scheduled for June 21st, at the Hamilton Convention Centre, in Ontario, Canada. In watching the intense training of the woman we’ve come to know as ‘Lil Tyson’, two things became abundantly clear at first glance: 1.) There’s very little hope for anyone on the receiving end of that left-hook, and 2.) this is a fighter who has the best trainer, along with all the natural physical attribtes necessary to overcome every level of competition en route to an inevitable world title.
At the mere thought of her questionable loss to Ina Menzer, it was pretty clear that there was no room for a ‘pity party’, but instead, a diversion to the act of making sure mistakes of yesterday find no way to hinder success of tomorrow.. Before winning a hard fought championship a few years ago on the heels of a disastrous start to the regular season, legendary NBA head coach Pat Riley responded by stating that “In every setback there’s a seed of equivalent benefit”, and this statement could be no more fitting as the lone lost on her record has apparently served as a catalyst providing instant atonement. The mentality from here on out is simple…..perform to perfection, section for section.
As her fight date approaches, many of us will keep an eye on Tsagouris, however, avoiding all distractions, her response instead will be to simply keep her eyes on the prize!
Below is a link to a few photos from the ever intense training session with Sandy:
(***Visit Sandy Tsagouris at www.myspace.com/sandytsagouris***)