FORMER IBF flyweight world champion Sunny Edwards announced a shock retirement after losing out to domestic rival, Galal Yafai last month.
Now, with British fight fans pondering whether Yafai, 9-0 (7 KOs), could dominate in the smaller weight divisions, Edwards has explained how he believes a potential scrap between Yafai and pound-for-pound superstar Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, 21-0 (14 KOs), would play out.
Edwards famously suffered a first career defeat when he travelled stateside to face Rodriguez in a unification bout, where the WBO and IBF straps were at stake, being comfortably outclassed by the Texan before retiring in the corner after round nine.
‘Bam’ would then go on to halt Juan Francisco Estrada for the WBC super-flyweight title in one of the highlights of 2024, whilst Edwards bounced back with a win against Adrian Curiel on the undercard, before colliding with long-term rival and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist, Yafai, in November.
Despite superior experience at world level, Edwards was dominated from the opening bell onwards by his aggressive countryman, with Yafai finally getting the stoppage victory after six brutal rounds and claiming the vacant WBC interim flyweight crown as a result.
Regardless of the fact that Yafai and Rodriguez operate in different weight divisions, British fight fans began to call for a showdown between the pair and there is every possibility that the clash could take place down the line – if Yafai can apply the sufficient pressure to generate interest in the bout from across the pond.
Yet, speaking with Boxing News, Edwards dismissed the competitiveness of the potential contest, explaining that Yafai is too easy to hit for a fighter of Rodriguez’s quality, whilst letting slip his frustrations at the officiating during his loss to Yafai.
“Bam is special, man. Bam is very, very special. Obviously, Galal beat me better in some ways, but if I had that same ref when I fought Bam, then I would have been stopped five or six times in my opinion.
“I don’t think that I can pick anyone really at super-flyweight or flyweight against Bam. Not only can he punch very hard, he is a very good boxer and I think that he will find hitting Galal clean a bit easier than what other people are thinking.
“Galal is very, very tough, he is very, very strong and he is very, very relentless, but I think that, in that fight, that might be his undoing. Against me, that was his strength, definitely, I couldn’t really keep him off of me. I was just trying to wait for him to get tired and to keep throwing back and then the ref stopped it, and I was surprised that he did.
“Galal is a terrific fighter, Olympic gold medallist but I think that Bam is pound-for-pound one of the best fighters in the world.”
A first return to Tokyo since his Olympic triumph in 2021 could await Yafai, with reigning WBC flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji, 24-1 (15 KOs), representing the assumed target for any world title bid for the Brit, given his interim champion status.
However, Teraji will first attempt to unify the flyweight marbles against WBA titleholder Seigo Yuri Akui, 21-2-1 (11 KOs), on Thursday, March 13.
