Boxing: Shelford fighting fit in last serious sparring

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Angus Shelford, New Zealand's lone Olympic boxer, stepped out of the ring yesterday with no idea whom he had just punched.

Shelford has no memory for names.

The anonymous guy at the end of his fist was a German, a little taller, a little lighter - and that was all he needed to know.

It turned out the pugilist was Cengiz Koc, a southpaw soldier who was once a world champion kickboxer.

The super-heavyweights went at it for four rounds, with no winner declared at the end.

It was Shelford's last serious sparring session before his first Olympic fight, in nine days' time.

Today, he will discover just whom it is he will meet first-up - and with everyone's name drawn out of one hat, it could be Koc.

But then, Shelford probably would not be able to put the name to the glove.

The 23-year-old Auckland storeman came out of yesterday's bout no worse for wear and relieved to get some good punches in.

"It was pretty hard sparring, and there was an element of risk so close to the Games," said coach John McKay.

"But he handled it well. And he's realising that he's not that far behind now."

It has not been an easy build-up for Shelford, nicknamed Guys. He went to Brisbane for a couple of fights, only to arrive and find that they had fallen through.

"I managed to get some good sparring - but it's not the same as a good fight," he said.

So he packed up and headed for Noumea, where he trained merrily for three weeks next to Olympic fighters from France, Italy, Germany and Australia.

"The guys I sparred with were lighter than me, but the smaller guys are also a lot faster, which was great for me," he said. "Some of the sparring was like a real fight."

Then a few days ago he went through what he calls a flat spot.

"My timing was out, I'd lost my rhythm, I wasn't very happy," he said. "It was just all the hard training - it got to me."

So he went home to Auckland to his partner, Renae, who is expecting their first child next month. He realised he needed a couple of days without his gloves on.

Now, after two days in the athletes' village, Shelford is soaking up the Olympic experience.

He admits that it is lonely being the only New Zealand boxer to make it as far as Sydney.

"I miss having a few of my mates around. But I suppose in a way it doesn't effect me so bad. I've always been a bit of a loner," he said.

This morning Shelford will be put through the first stages of Olympic competition - the medical, the weigh-in and the draw.

McKay feels happy with his young charge, who always says a karakia - a Maori prayer - before he enters the ring.

"It's been a big ask, but I really think he has come on," he said. "I'm really rapt with Angus. He's a good boy."