– stops Brandon Baue via first-round TKO

 SIMEON ‘Candy Man’ Hardy’s return to the ring after a 14-month hiatus, saw him walking out with a first-round Technical Knockout (TKO) win over American Brandon Baue, when the two met on Saturday evening in what should’ve been a six-round encounter at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Lawrence, Kansas.

The win saw the 31-year-old Guyanese improve his record to 14 wins; 11 of which came from putting his opponents to sleep with his notorious right hand and him being defeated twice, during his 16 outings

“The results came sooner than I expected last night (Saturday),” Hardy told Chronicle Sport, following his first time back in the ring since losing via a Unanimous Decision to Eric Moon on July 7, 2017.

“First fight since losing to Eric Moon, I was now feeling him (Brandon Baue) out and timing his counter punches.

 Once I figured him out I had him in trouble with the first solid shot I landed and he was out the ring…I knew he was hurt badly and wasn’t surprised the referee waved it off when he didn’t respond,” Hardy said.

The former World Boxing Council (WBC) and Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) Welterweight champion added: “I’ve been working hard and made a notable change with my nutritional diet and training regime. I’m physically stronger and in better shape all around. I’m looking forward to being consistent and racking up these wins towards a world title shot.”

Hardy’s first blemish on his record came against Armenian Vito Gasparyan, where he suffered a Unanimous Decision loss, despite a good showing in the ring.

Before migrating, the Sophia native had kayoed Iwan Azore to win the vacant CABOFE welterweight title at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Hardy’s last fight in Guyana was against Howard Eastman in 2012, where he picked up a Majority Decision win after out-boxing the former Commonwealth middleweight champion.