Hogan stands out for trainer Hassan
While unbeaten Perth southpaw Sam Hogan moves his career along quietly but effectively, trainer Dave Hassan had a sharp word for some of the other fighters in his Gosnells gym.
Light-middleweight Hogan went to 7-0 with a solid defeat of Terry DeHaan at Metro City on Friday night, the Victorian’s corner throwing in the towel during the third round.
The win followed Hogan’s points victory over Daniel Durham six weeks earlier, where his good work almost came undone by him getting involved with a known brawler.
This time Hogan let his boxing do the talking, with impressive results.
“This was my best performance, I got caught up in a brawl my last fight but here I moved my feet and got out the way,” Hogan said. “I let the fight take its pace and I didn’t try to force it.
“I was placing my shots better and I let him walk on (to them), I used a lot of body shots and was driving them up, instead of just head hunting.
“If you try to force a knockout you won’t get it. There’s usually only a small window in a fight where you can do damage and you have to be patient.”
Hassan praised Hogan for sticking to the game plan.
“I thought he boxed very well, he kept himself at distance and stayed outside boxing, I thought he boxed fantastic,” Hassan said.
“He said he felt really good in there, he’s getting used to being in the boxing ring.
“He is getting more and more relaxed.”
While Hogan is in Hassan’s good books, young lightweight Shane Carroll was given a rebuke after his four-round points loss to Hero Tito on Dragon Fire's Thunderdome VII show.
A bout against someone as fit and committed as Tito (now 8-4) was always going to be a test for Carroll in only his second pro fight.
Hassan said he wasn’t too disturbed that the 19-year-old had shipped a decision, more that his preparation for the fight could have been better.
“We are disappointed. Taking nothing away from Tito, we won the first round clearly then he (Carroll) just gassed,” Hassan said.
“At the end of the day he is 19, it’s not that devastating. But being young, he took two weeks off after his last fight, so we were down to four weeks’ training. In that time he had two bouts of flu.
“We sat down and talked about it. He felt he was fit enough for a four-rounder. We knew we were taking a risk and it’s one we probably shouldn’t have taken.
“But hopefully it's a big wake-up for Shane and all his fans and friends. Ten of his mates got ‘Sugar Shane’ tattoos - he’d only had one fight.”
Hassan also said he allowed himself to be overruled by middleweight Luke Sharp in taking a six-rounder against Steven Ma in Bunbury last month. That move also backfired, with Ma winning a close points decision.
“Sharpy kicked and screamed until he got that fight,” Hassan said. “I still think he won but the record shows that’s a loss on his card.
“There are 100 ‘Sharpy’ fans now ... perhaps I have got a gym full of superstars.”
