By Declan Taylor
Sunny Edwards takes on Galal Yafai in Birmingham tonight in a hugely important British flyweight fight. If Sunny manages to win number 22, he will win the WBC interim title and move towards a world title shot in 2025. But what have been his best wins to date?
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MORUTI MTHALANE, 30/4/2021, London – UD 12
Big-hitting South African Moruti had been world champion for nearly three years when he arrived at York Hall, Bethnal Green. But he came unstuck at the famous old venue in the fourth defense of his title as Edwards put on a boxing masterclass and cruised to a unanimous decision. In fact, his victory was so dominant that referee Bob Williams even scored it 120-108.
FELIX ALVARADO, 11/11/2022, Sheffield – UD 12
In the third defense of his IBF flyweight title, Edwards welcomed the highly experienced Alvarado to his adopted hometown of Sheffield and boxed to order to claim a criminally underrated victory. Prior to this fight, Alvarado, who had 33 stoppages in 38 wins, had been undefeated for almost a decade and had only lost to Kazut Yoka and Juan Carlos Revek, but he simply couldn’t handle Edwards, who was able to come back and win on all three. cards.
ADRIAN CURIJEL, 29/06/2024, Phoenix – TD 9
Nobody ever likes to win a technical decision, but there’s no denying the quality of this win over world-ranked Adrian Curiel in Phoenix. This was Edwards’ comeback fight following his loss to Bam Rodriguez six months earlier, but he looked back at times against the Mexican.
A clash of heads opened a horrific gash on Edwards’ head in the seventh game, but he was unable to knock him out of his rhythm before the fight was stopped in the ninth. All three judges then gave him a clear lift, handing him the win.