Charlie Edwards: ‘I never stopped believing’

Charlie Edwards

THERE have been few more emotional scenes in the last year than Charlie Edwards winning a world title. At the O2 on Saturday (December 22) he outpointed strong Nicaraguan Cristopher Rosales. Charlieโ€™s mother has been gravely ill and with tears in his eyes he dedicated the belt to her.

โ€œIโ€™ve dreamed about this from a young age. I give my sport absolutely everything, even through the ups and downs I never stopped believing,โ€ Edwards said. โ€œIt really hurt when she [his mother] went through what she went through. I always promised her the belt. Even in the last world title fight [in 2016] and when I got beat in that, that broke me more than anything. But this time I just knew I was coming of age. It was a proud moment.โ€

Edwards boxed well. โ€œI did feel comfortable in there. I thought he would punch a lot harder,โ€ he said. โ€œI think I gained his respect very quickly early on with a few shots but he was a very, very tough man and I did hit him with some good shots and he just kept coming. The main thing was sticking to the gameplan.

โ€œI thought I was controlling the rounds, although he was coming forward, I think I was making him miss quite wide which made him look out of control and I was popping him with the single shots we had in the gameplan. We didnโ€™t want stand there with ‘you hit me, I hit you’ type of thing because heโ€™s a strong fighter. You seen what heโ€™s done in career.โ€

charlie edwards

โ€œI could feel that I was winning rounds,โ€ he continued. โ€œBut heโ€™s a dangerous man and I couldnโ€™t take my eye off the ball for one second.โ€

A bad cut on his forehead didnโ€™t manage to disrupt Edwards. โ€œI did know what it was like to be cut,โ€ Edwards said. โ€œAs soon as the cut went I just zoned in. To be honest it made me concentrate more.

โ€œIt might have been a blessing in disguise and made me really focus.โ€

His trainer Grant Smith was hugely important to the result. โ€œI feel heโ€™s changed me,โ€ he said. โ€œHeโ€™s turned me into an absolute different fighter. Most of all I feel loved and when a fighterโ€™s loved and gets cherished it makes the partnership that much better.โ€

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