The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN heavyweight boxer Amron Sands connected with a straight left punch that sent American Hector Hodge to the canvas in two and-a-half minutes for a first round knockout to remain undefeated in his second year in the professional ranks.

Coming off an impressive 7-0 win-loss start last year, Sands added another quick victory to his résumé at the St Petersburg Coliseum in St Petersburg, Florida, on Saturday night.

“It was good. The game plan went according to the plan,” Sands told The Tribune. “We did everything we practiced.”

The 6-foot, 6-inch 24-year-old Sands admitted that he wasn’t surprised at the early exit out of the ring because he was fully prepared for any and everything. He trains out of the Orlando Boxing Academy where he’s coached by Jose Cruz.

“This was good to get started with a bang like this. We have lots more bangs to come,” he pointed out. “We have another one in March. So we have another hurdle to get over and continue the journey to becoming a world champion.”

When Sands connected on the straight left shot, he said 40-year-old Hodge didn’t see it. While Sands improved to 8-0, Hodge dropped to 3-4.

Ronn Rodgers, Sands’ local coach at the Strikers Boxing Club, said this is just the tip of the iceberg. “His performance in the first 30 seconds was a little lacklustre because we were not able to get a good warm up in,” said Rodgers, who was in Sands’ corner with his American coaching staff. “But he was able to stick to the game plan and that sealed the fight.

“We studied the fighter, so we knew what game plan we wanted to use in the fight. He came on strong and performed as expected the rest of the way.”

Having started working with Sands since he was 12 when he switched from playing basketball, Rodgers said he is eager to see how well he will perform in the future.

“We plan on ending the year with at least a 16-0 record. We want to duplicate what we did last year,” Rodgers said. “We’re trying to get a title fight, if not by the end of this year, as early as next year. But we’re not going to rush him. We want him to grow into the sport.”

His mother Marie Smith, who has attended all but one of her son’s fights, said while she’s proud of his accomplishment, she had hoped to see the fight last a little longer.

“The fight was over too fast for me. We drove two hours to see him knock the guy out in the first round,” said Smith, who traveled from the Bahamas to once again support her son. “I felt bad for the guy. I said ‘Referee give him a break.’ I asked Amron why he didn’t ‘give the guy a break.’

“He really pounded him. It’s a six round fight, but Amron knocked him out in the first round. You wondered what all the training was about, but obviously the training paid off. We’re looking forward to number nine.”

Other than the quick knockout, Smith said her son is coming into his own and she would like to see him take on more competitive fighters. She called this one a warm up or tune up for what is to come this year.

Sands is tentatively set to fight again on May 17 at the Agricenter International in Memphis, Tennessee, but Rodgers said their team is trying to get him back in the ring next month for his ninth fight.