GIVEN the needle attached to their domestic dustup, it is only right that Lewis Edmondson – armed with an arsenal of juicy sparring stories – has come out firing ahead of his light-heavyweight showdown against Ezra Taylor.
The British and Commonwealth champion will put his belts up for grabs on October 25, featuring on the undercard of Joseph Parker vs Fabio Wardley at the O2 Arena, London.
While coming off a tightly-contested encounter with Daniel Lapin, which ultimately saw him lose a contentious majority decision, Edmondson, 11-1 (3 KOs), is also gearing up to make the first defence of his Lonsdale Belt.
It was a career-best victory, in fact, that saw the 29-year-old dethrone Dan Azeez last year, which in turn put him on a fruitful path that has led directly towards his clash with Taylor, 12-0 (8 KOs).
But while the pair have been at each other’s throats for the best part of a year, taking any opportunity to build their rivalry, it was mandatory challenger Taylor who, rather surprisingly, accused Edmondson of delaying his shot at the British title.
‘The Cannon’ expressed his belief in an episode of ‘Locked In’, telling Queensberry Promotions stalwart Dev Sahni that the Southampton man is the reason for their fight not happening sooner.
In response, it is fair to say that ‘The Saint’ was not slow to fire back.
“He’s got an A-star in talking s***,” Edmondson told Boxing News. “We were the ones pushing for the fight, even before any belts were on the line.
“But he never responded. He thought he was some big fish, and I don’t know why. He’s had 17 amateur and won nothing as a pro, apart from a couple Mickey Mouse belts.
“I don’t know if he actually believes all this s*** he says, or whether it’s just for show, but we’ll find out on October 25.
“I’m going to show him why I won multiple national titles and boxed for England [as an amateur], and why I beat Dan Azeez and became British champion in my tenth fight.”
When asked why he believes that Taylor took the fight, Edmondson said: “What else is he going to do? He’s 31 years old.
“[Queensberry promoter] Frank [Warren] probably said to him, ‘Mate, if you don’t take this fight then f*** off.’”
Taylor comes off a unanimous decision victory over Troy Jones, encountering several tricky patches while nonetheless extending his unbeaten record.
For Edmondson, though, the Nottingham man’s professional record is merely a superficial reflection of his ability, designed to paper over the cracks that have allegedly been exposed behind the scenes.
“I know that Ty Mitchell [a British super-middleweight operator] broke his eye socket [in sparring],” Edmondson claimed. “I also know that Ben Whittaker left him in tears, his bottom lip wobbling in front of his pals.
“Obviously Ben’s an Olympian, a good fighter, but no man could ever make me cry in the ring.”
It is perhaps inevitable for a series of sparring stories to emerge, but regardless of whatever has transpired in the gym, there should be no hiding by the time Edmondson-Taylor rolls around next month.
The beauty, of course, is that both men will finally get the chance to put their talking to the test.
