#!/usr/bin/perl --
use strict; 
use warnings;
use Data::Dump qw/ dd /;
my $msg = NoMiddleSpaces( ' i t s a r a c e ' );
dd( $msg );
sub NoMiddleSpaces {
    my( $start, $middle, $end ) = $_[0] =~ m{^(\s*)(.*?)(\s*$)}is;
    $middle =~ s{\s+}{}g;
    return "$start$middle$end";
}
__END__
" itsarace "
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