Saundre “Dash” Simmons has hailed Mexican opponent Juan Andres Alaniz Diaz for providing him with great competition on Saturday.

Simmons stopped Diaz — the son of legendary Mexican boxing icon Jorge “El Maromero” Páez — via technical knockout in the third round of their light-heavyweight bout in Mexicali.

The Bermudian extended his flawless record to 9-0 since making his professional debut in December 2023.

“He was a tough opponent and he was game,” Simmons told The Royal Gazette.

“There were a couple of moments there I thought I could have gone all six rounds, but I just stuck to the game plan and the knockout came.

“Different opponents are going to bring different things. With this guy, I didn’t know if he was going to crumble, so I just had to box and see what came.

“With the last guy [Ian Darby], I knew he was going to crumble. This guy wasn't as evasive and he was there to fight, so hats off to him; these Mexicans are no joke.

“I was prepared to go all six rounds. He didn’t really land any shots. He was throwing punches and since it was his home-town crowd, he heard some noise and got excited.”

The North Carolina-based boxer hopes his latest victory presents him with more opportunities as he looks to close out the year with a 10-0 record.

“It feels good to get this win, it’s another tally in the right direction,” the 28-year-old said.

“Hopefully, it opened up some doors for some bigger fights, you never know. Maybe in December we can get another fight back in North Carolina.

“Unfortunately in boxing, victory is short-lived, so I’m heading straight into the gym and working on that next fight.”

Simmons also plays a huge role in supporting fellow Bermudian boxer Adrian Roach. Issues with Roach’s opponent saw his four-round welterweight bout with Victor Emanuel Lopez happening later than scheduled, with the Bermudian winning it on a majority decision.

“Adrian Roach basically got the main event,” Simmons said.

“He fought right at the end, did a great job and kicked the fight. I tried staying by his side the whole night, even after I won my fight. I didn't really want to celebrate until we got his fight out of the way.”

Roach was pleased with the way he went about his first overseas professional fight on the way to taking his record to 2-0 after making his debut at The Shed in July.

“The fight was good and I think I controlled it with my jab,” the 23-year-old said.

“I felt comfortable going the four rounds and my endurance was on par. I feel like I displayed my defence a lot more than people are used to seeing.

“People are used to seeing me slug it out, but this time around I kind of took it easy. I just wanted everybody back at home to see my skill set, and I think I did a good display of that.

“Credit to everybody else, my Bone Breaker team and Dash. It’s time to go back to the drawing board and see what’s next on the horizon.”