Bermuda's Chanjiv Simmons was stopped dead in his tracks, suffering a second round technical knockout to Bahamian Damian Tinker at the Caribbean Amateur Boxing Association Championships (CABA) in Nassau, Bahamas on Wednesday night.

Overpowered by the sheer might of his Caribbean counterpart - a former CABA bantamweight champion - Simmons was stopped when the referee finally decided he'd suffered enough punishment in the featherweight semi-final bout.

The local boxer had earlier advanced to the final four after receiving a bye in the preliminary round. This year's featherweight division only comprised of four competitors.

Bermuda Boxing Association president James Marina yesterday attributed Simmons' demise to a cold bug which has afflicted many of those staying at the Wyndham Resort Hotel in Nassau.

"This cold is affecting everybody," said Marina, speaking from his hotel room yesterday. "And as a result of the cold and the other guy (Tinker) at that weight class, who I wouldn't want to box, Chanjiv ended up losing."

But despite Simmons' exit, morale, said Marina, remained exceptionally high in the Bermuda camp as local Sharieff Wales (super-heavyweight) and Trace Easton (middleweight) both prepared to compete in the finals of their respective weight classes last night.

Easton was scheduled to meet St. Martin's Lucien Lake in the middleweight division final while Wales was due to slug it out with Bahamas' Gareth Scott.

A total of 17 countries from the Caribbean are competing in this year's championships in which the Bahamians have excelled on home soil. Bahamas were scheduled to compete in 12 of the 14 finals on last night's card.

"The Bahamians are very tough and well conditioned," added Marina.

Another Bermudian, Andre Bean, tumbled out of the championships earlier this week after suffering a loss to Barbadian Ricardo Worrel. Bean competed for two rounds before deciding to throw in the towel after complaining of shortness of breath.

Accompanying the local team in the Bahamas are coaches Angelo (Forty) Rego and Chuck Renaud, physician Angela Marini and local referees Anthony Mouchette and Leon Raynor. Both Mouchette and Raynor are currently undergoing courses in the Caribbean in a bid to obtain certified boxing badges. The local pair have also officiated in a few bouts at the championships and were among the panel of judges at last night's finals.

Mouchette yesterday stressed just how tough Bermuda's opposition had been this week.

"The calibre of boxing out here has been very high," he noted. "The calibre here is much higher than in Bermuda, but the local boxers have done extremely well so far. And if they can manage to stick to their game plans tonight (last night) then there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be successful."

The Bermuda contingent arrive back home next Tuesday.