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5'5" featherweight Sandy 'Lil Tyson' Tsagouris from Brampton, Ontario,
Canada
was born on February 21, 1981. She had an athletic background in high school,
where she competed in sports from badminton to tackle football. A boxing demonstration in her
ninth grade gym
class motivated her to try the sport and she
began to compete on the amateur scene in Canada in 1997.
On December 1, 1999 at the Canadian national championships in
Campbell River, British Columbia, Sandy defeated Roseanne Blackburn of BC in her
54-kg preliminary bout. (The division was won by
Lisa Brown).
On June 25, 1999 in the USA vs. Canada Dual Meet at Dalhousie
University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Sandy defeated Krysti Rosario (USA)
by a 13-10 margin in a 132-lb bout.
Her boxing career was nearly ended when she was diagnosed with two
herniated disks, a condition which left her bedridden and unable to stand or walk for six
months. Sandy eventually rehabilitated with strength training and found her way back to the boxing gym and to
amateur competition.
On Saturday June 7, 2003 in Hamilton, Ontario, she defeated
future Canadian champion Katie Dunn
of the Border City Boxing Club by a unanimous decision.
In 2004, Sandy decided that boxing as an amateur would not
satisfy her passion for the sport so she elected to turn pro, at age 23.
Her amateur record stood at 18-2, plus five exhibitions.
Sandy (left) vs Olga Heron in her pro debut
© Copyrighted photo taken by Durell Wambolt
On April 17, 2004 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Sandy
(123 lbs) won her pro debut over Olga Heron
(126 lbs) of Mississauga in a four-round unanimous (40-36) decision. Tsagouris was the busier fighter in
this four-round featherweight bout. She charged out of her
corner at the opening bell, throwing everything she had. And
although she settled down to box after this initial outburst
of energy, she still landed more than her much more experienced
opponent, her right hand often finding its mark. Heron caught
her opponent coming in with her own right hand a couple of
times, but had difficulty in getting her punches off against
the stronger and quicker Brampton fighter. The judges also
saw it that way and gave Tsagouris, an accomplished former amateur fighter who
has been absent from the ring for several years, the unanimous decision. With
the loss, Heron's record dropped to 3-3 (1KO). For more fight photos by
Durell Wanbolt, see
MPEG/Photo Gallery #244
on the WBAN Member Site.
On September 16, 2004 at the Mississauga Grand in Mississauga, Ontario, Sandy (123 lbs) TKO'd
pro debuter Monique Velasquez (126 lbs) of the USA at 1:20 in the first round of a
scheduled four-rounder.
Sandy TKO's Urbaez in Mississauga, March 2005
© Copyrighted photo taken by Durell Wambolt
On March 10, 2005 at the Mississauga Grand in Mississauga, Ontario,
Canada. Sandy (124 lbs) won by a TKO at 0:56 in the second round over Judith
"Austria" Urbaez (5′ 6½″, 126 lbs) of the
Dominican Republic. According to WBAN correspondent RIck MacLean,
"Tsagouris came out to a thundering ovation from the home town crowd
and used that energy through the entire match. Tsagouris came out
swinging in the first round which I do not think Urbaez was expecting
... Tsagouris landed solid straight left, right combinations that kept
Urbaez on the defensive. Sandy was able to “duck under” or “side step”
any counter punches that Urbaez offered. Urbaez’s only success came
when she grabbed on to Sandy and held because it seemed to frustrate
Tsagouris. Within the first ten seconds of round two Sandy came out and
connected with a straight left followed by a crisp right hook that
snapped Urbaez’s head to the side and crumbled her to the canvas.
Urbaez regained her footing at the count of eight but at that point
Sandy smelt blood and never let her off the hook. Tsagouris chased
Urbaez around the ring until finally cornering her and set her up with
a solid left hook to the ribs followed by another right to the head
that sent Urbaez through the ropes and almost in to the front row. I
had to take evasive action, however Urbaez still bumped into me. Urbaez
did not have the opportunity to get up again because her corner threw
in the towel. The match was ruled a KO at the 56 second mark of round
number 2." Tsagouris
improved to 3-0 (2 KO’s) while Urbaez fell to 6-4-1. (For more fight photos by
Durell Wanbolt, see
MPEG/Photo Gallery #244
on the WBAN Member Site).
Sandy put Candy Sarver down three times
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mike Alberts On April 8, 2006 at the Lansing Center
in Lansing, Michigan, Sandy TKO'd 33-year-old Candi Sarver of Lansing at
1:37 in the third round of a scheduled four-rounder. .
According to Andre Courtemanche of FightNews, "Tsagouris put on an
impressive display of boxing skills as she dismantled tough Michiganian
Candy Sarver, 0-4, finally stopping her at 1:37 of the third. Fighting out
of an educated shell, Tsagouris had Sarver down three times before referee
Steve Daher indicated he had seen enough. After the fight, Tsagouris got on
the microphone and challenged Grand Rapids native Jennifer Salinas. Salinas
had been the originally scheduled opponent, but pulled out due to an
apparent hand injury." Tsagouris improved to 4-0 (4 KO's) while
Sarver fell to 0-4 with the loss.
(For more fight photos by Mike Alberts, see
MPEG/Photo Gallery #354
on the WBAN Member Site).
Sandy lands a right on Olga Heron in their rematch
© Copyrighted photo taken by Durell Wambolt On November 18,
2006 at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Sandy (127½ lbs)
won a six-round unanimous (60-54,59-55,58-56)
decision in a rematch with crosstown rival Olga Heron (129½ lbs).
According to WBAN correspondent Rick McLean, "This
match was one of the most exciting and vocal matches of the evening due to
the grudge between the two fighters. Each boxer had a huge local fan base in
the arena which was evident when they were being introduced. The opening
round saw Heron taunting Tsagouris with a smile that rarely left her face
for the entire match. Heron was on the defensive during the round as
Tsagouris pressed the action and landed many powerful overhand rights and an
occasional uppercut to the head of Heron. However, Heron did not seem fazed
by the hard shots and continued smiling, moving backwards in a defensive
posture, and counter punched well to the body and head when she had the
openings. Rounds two and three saw much of the same action as Tsagouris
moved forward pressing the action and again landed powerful right hands and
uppercuts on the inside while Heron stayed defensive and on the move, trying
to counterpunch. At this point of the bout it was apparent that Tsagouris
was the harder puncher and more accurate boxer who continually beat Heron to
the punch. During the rest period between rounds three and four it appeared
Tsagouris was becoming frustrated that she could not knock Heron out or make
her stop smiling. At the start of round four Tsagouris came out swinging
with the intentions of ending the match. Many of Tsagouris’s punches landed
clean and Heron seemed stunned but Olga was able to survive the storm
countering with body punches and occasionally landing hard punches to the
head of Tsagouris. The last two rounds of the fight saw both women trading
many hard punches toe to toe which brought the crowd to its feet. However,
for the first time in the bout Heron had Tsagouris moving backwards. Olga
was able to zero in on Tsagouris and landed often with scoring punches. At
the end of the match both women embraced and it seemed that any ill will
between them had been settled in the ring."
Heron fell to 4-8 (1 KO) with the loss.
For more photos of the fight by Durell Wambolt, see WBAN
Photo Gallery #397 on the WBAN
Records Member Site.
Sandy lands a left to the face of Olivia Gerula
© Copyrighted photo taken by Durell Wambolt
On October 13, 2007 at the Powerade Centre in
Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Sandy (128 lbs) remained
undefeated when she won an eight round majority (76-76,77-75,77-75) decision
over Olivia Gerula (128 lbs) for the vacant Canadian Boxing Federation (CBF)
Female Super Featherweight title. According to Shawn McWilliams of FightNews
Canada, "Both fighters entered the ring looking focused and determined.
Tsagouris had ... success ... scoring points on nice counter punching and
punishing her opponent with a stiff and constant jab . Olivia's offence was
mounted scoring the majority of her points with sporadic straight right hands
and right hooks. Both ladies fought hard and did not give an inch. The fight's
end saw both women bloodied and was entertaining wire to wire. This is a
benchmark in women's boxing here in Canada and hopefully is to be the beginning
of many exciting bouts in the future." Gerula slipped to 8-10-2 (2 KO's)
with the loss. Tsagouris
had been ranked #10 at featherweight before the fight by WBAN, while
Gerula was ranked #18 at junior lightweight. For more photos of the
fight by Durell Wambolt, see WBAN
Photo Gallery #448 on the WBAN
Records Member Site.
Sandy battles Ina Menzer in March 2008 On March 8,
2008 at KoenigPALAST in
Krefeld, Germany
Ina Menzer (125¼
lbs) battled Sandy
(126 lbs) to a hard-fought unanimous (96-94,97-33,97-93) decision for the
WIBF featherweight and the vacant WBC Featherweight title. Menzer
was badly cut over her right eye by a clash of heads, but she battled through
the injury to edge a fired-up Tsagouris in a hard-fought, even battle that
many at ringside thought Tsagouris had won. Menzer improved to 20-0 (8 KO's) with
the win.
Sandy
said about this fight: "I must say that although Menzer is a great
fighter I believe I fought a great fight and I realized what I am capable
of as a fighter. That fight hasn't shaped my training in any different
way... but I am thankful that the hard work that Billy Martin and I put
in on a daily basis was displayed on one of boxing’s world stages. It was an
honour to fight for the WBC and WIBF Titles."
On August 22, 2008 at the Twin Rivers Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode
Island, USA, Sandy (128 lbs) appeared for the first time on a CES Boxing
card and won a six-round unanimous (58-55,58-55,58-55) decision over
Adawirky Lopez (126 lbs) of the Dominican Republic, who fell to 1-1
(0 KO's) with the loss. As
reported by WBAN correspondent Ken Castro, "Tsagouris,
the latest stable acquisition of Rhode Island promoter Jimmy Burchfield, and
her opponent former 2007 Pan American Games champion Adawirky Lopez
thoroughly entertained the crowd ..in a six round featherweight bout.
At the outset of the fight, Tsagouris ...
displayed the power and killer instinct that earned her the tag of "Lil
Tyson" in her go-around with Lopez. Just a dozen seconds into the fight,
Tsagouris connected with a short, quick right that briefly stunned Lopez,
moving her back a step. But Lopez, with more than 50 amateur outings to her
credit responded well in the middle rounds. As evidenced iIn the third,
Lopez rocked Tsagouris with a hard right hook. And although Tsagouris scored
by going to the body in the latter rounds her defensive acumen lacked the
sharpness that she displayed in the beginning of the match-up. Still, Lopez
who increased her rate of aggressiveness as the bout progressed fell into
the syndrome of 'a little too late.' A head butt in the fourth round
produced a small gash to Tsagouris's left eye- a gash that ultimately
required a few sutures." Fellow
Canadian and world champion Jamie Clampitt
worked the corner for Tsagouris.
Sandy TKO's Maria Jose Nunez Anchorena in September 2008
© Copyrighted photo taken by Durell Wambolt
On September 27, 2008 at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ontario,
Canada, Sandy (125 lbs) TKO'd Maria Jose Nunez Anchorena (122½ lbs) of
Uruguay in the fourth round of a scheduled eight-rounder for the
vacant NABA Featherweight
title. WBAN correspondent Rick McLean
wrote: "Tsagouris came out in round one
aggressively throwing accurate combinations and broke down Nunez’s defense
early. To counter this, Nunez would back up trying to counterpunch
Tsagouris as best she could but it was to no avail. Round two saw much of
the same as Tsagouris was able to land big right hands behind an accurate
jab but a very game Nunez held in there and exchanged with Sandy as best she
could. By the midway point of round three Nunez was finally dropped by a
Tsagouris right hand. Nunez was up by a 5 count and was able to hang in
there to finish the round. The effects of Tsagouris’ combinations were
showing as Nunez was overwhelmed by short accurate punches and was once
again dropped by a right hand early in round 4. Nunez was once again able to
get up and continue but was dropped by a left hook near the midpoint of the
round. Nunez beat the count but was very unsteady on her feet. Tsagouris saw
the opening to finish the fight and pinned Nunez on the ropes where she
landed a half dozen unanswered punches before the referee stepped in
stopping the bout at 1:24 mark. Nunez deserves credit for coming into
Toronto as an underdog for this match. She could have stayed down early on
and collected her pay and nobody would have thought any less of her but
instead she kept getting up and fought her heart out. She just was unable to
match Tsagouris’ superior skills but the willpower was definitely there.
Nunez stated that she wants to fight more often in North America and Europe
because there is more opportunity and the skill level is much higher than in
South America." The
Uruguayan-born unez Anchorena, who now lives in California, fell to 9-6 (7 KO's) with the loss while
Sandy improved to 9-1 (4 KO's).
For more photos of the fight by Durell Wambolt, see WBAN
Photo Gallery #491 on the WBAN
Records Member Site.
On November 14, 2009 at the Convention Centre in Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada, Sandy Tsagouris (124 lbs) won a six-round unanimous (60-55, 60-54 and 60-53)
decision over previously undefeated Mayerlin Rivas (125¾ lbs) of Venezuela in a
six-round contest.
According to WBAN correspondent Rick McLean, "In the opening round,
Tsagouris pressured Rivas and landed crisp head and body shots mixing up her
combinations well. However, Tsagouris was warned for hitting behind the head
and Rivas protested loudly to the referee. The same action continued through
rounds two and three as Tsagouris utilized her jab, cut off the ring well
and started to break down Rivas' defence. To her credit Rivas was a hard
puncher with a lot of heart and determination who kept trying to unload
bombs. In the fourth round Tsagouris was cut over the corner of her left eye
however it did not impair her vision. In round 5, Rivas came out strong and
nailed Tsagouris with two hard rights to the head however she seemed to
punch herself out and was only able to fight in spurts for the rest of the
round. Throughout round six Rivas looked exhausted as she continually backed
up and tried to hold on. Tsagouris was able to pound away at Rivas but was
unable to drop her. A game Rivas showed a lot of heart and won over the
Hamilton crowd and is a definite contender. She deserves a lot of credit for
her determination." Rivas fell to 5-1 (4 KO's). On April 29, 2011 at Chungei Temple in Yesan Gun, South Korea, Hyun-Mi
Choi
(126 lbs) of Seoul, South Korea TKO'd Sandy Tsagouris (126 lbs) at
1:39 in the third round of a scheduled ten-rounder for the WBA
Featherweight title. Tsagouris, who took the fight at a few weeks'
notice after a 15-month layoff, fell to 10-2-0 (4 KO's) while Choi
improved to 5-0-1 (2 KO's). In August 2011 Sandy told WBAN that she would be taking time out from the ring to have a child but promised she would be back, saying "For all those featherweights who think they are safe watch out
cause 9 months goes quickly..."
Tsagouris manages Rhino's Gym in
Toronto, Ontario. She says that she prefers sparring with men so she can “let
loose” on them. Her main concern with women’s boxing is its lack of media
exposure. She hopes this will change so the sport can flourish.
Other Sandy Tsagouris links
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records Member Site
Page last updated:
Sunday, November 05, 2017 |
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