SUNNY EDWARDS, one of British boxers great talkers, is in full flow.
“This might be hard for those people who don’t like me to hear, yeah,” he says. “But my goal is to exist in boxing for pretty much the entirety of my life.”
Consider that your warning. Arguably the most polarising figure in the sport is here to stay. When Edwards speaks boxing, generally, nothing is off the table. During this chat he touches on the rise and fall of Probellum, fighting his brother Charlie and even a private apology to Eddie Hearn.
But, much like his behaviour inside the ring; hands down, switch-hitting, firing from the hip, Edwards insists everything outside of it is always a calculated risk too.
He goes on: “I don’t mind speaking my point because if someone wants to disagree with me I don’t live in fear of any man alive. If someone wants to have a conversation with me over something I’ve said or that I believe in, it has never been something I’ve shied away from.
“I try not to be too disrespectful and I get that if someone isn’t on the same side as my point of view then it can be antagonising. It is never intended personally, it’s more using my position in boxing to get my point across.
“I feel like I owe it to myself to be real. I promised myself a long time ago that I’ll speak my mind. Sometimes things are tongue-in-cheek and I’ll just be matching the energy of that conversation.”
You can make quite a compelling argument that Edwards, 19-0 (4), is the most naturally gifted, currently active British boxer. He is also highly skilled at making himself heard on social media. There was a time when Hearn was the target for some of his Tweets, for instance.
“I think at some point Eddie realised that what I was doing was getting the attention of the world’s biggest boxing promoter,” he adds. “Previously infographics had been coming up on DAZN about possible opponents for Julio Cesar Martinez and I was never mentioned on the commentary. It was almost as if Sunny Edwards didn’t exist even though I was a British world champion at the same weight.
“Maybe I had to ruffle a few feathers and maybe I had to make a little bit of a splash. Maybe I also had to air out some of my personal gripes to a certain degree.”
As it happened, making noise on Twitter has earned him a promotional deal with Hearn and Matchroom which kicks off on June 10 against Andres Campos at Wembley Arena. It has been a long time coming for Edwards, who is one of British boxing’s most under-appreciated champions of the last 10 years.
“In the last year, maybe I said a few things that upset Eddie,” he adds. “But then there was a private apology of course – don’t bite the hand that can potentially feed you in the future.
“Then there were a few ringside tickets that same week. I think Eddie realised what I’m willing to do to make these fights happen, and what I do to grab attention, from a business standpoint, he can appreciate that.
“I wouldn’t have gone to Eddie if it wasn’t the best thing for me to do and Eddie wouldn’t be looking to sign me if it wasn’t the best thing for him to do. That’s perfect.”
It is put to Edwards that his career stalled during his time with Probellum, the now-defunct promotional company who staged his last three fights. Two of them were in Dubai while the latest was a good win against Felix Alvarado in Sheffield last November which was not picked up by a major broadcaster but instead shown on Fite TV in the UK.
“If you look at the reality of it, I defended my world title three times in 11 months,” he says. “I think people thought I was out of the ring for much longer than I was, for whatever reason that is, I don’t know.
“I also got a lot more exposure than what people think. I was able to headline in my adopted hometown of Sheffield which I loved even though it was a hard fight. I feel like I gave a good show of myself in those 11 months and I showed myself that no matter where I go promotionally, that I still feel like when I fight there’s at least a reasonable splash.
“And I think my worth was proven when the possibility of signing me came up after the dissolution of Probellum. There were certain conversations I had at certain times that showed, for my weight and at this stage of my life, that I’ve built a very good foundation for myself.”
It is why Hearn wasted no time in signing the No.1 flyweight in the world. Given he currently also promotes both Julio Cesar Martinez and Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez – who are currently No.3 and No.4 – it made a lot of sense. No matter how much Edwards had insulted him on Twitter in the past.
“Twitter’s great now because it shows you if five million people have seen your tweet,” Edwards adds. “That’s good when you’re talking about a promoter and a fighter wanting to see their reach.
“I try not to pick unnecessary hills to die on but I don’t mind speaking my mind, especially with boxing. Because I’m a boxing fan so even if I was still an amateur or if I wasn’t boxing anymore I’d still be very much invested in the schedule.
“I’ve proven myself since I was a nine-year-old kid and now, with the pen in my hand, with the world’s biggest promoter, all the fighters inside the stable and a bit of pressure from the promotion, I know I can turn the story of Sunny Edwards into a story that gets told beyond just me being a good fighter. I believe I can transcend this weight given the right fights. All it is down to is opportunity with opponents. But I’ve always struggled with that.”
Fights with Martinez and Bam seem like natural ones to make now that Edwards has signed a deal but talk of probably the most unnatural fight in the sport will not go away. That is the one between Edwards and his elder brother Charlie which seemed like a joke at first but has gathered pace over the last few months. They have not been on speaking terms for a while now while their dad Larry has always said he would love the fight to happen.
“Let me give you a quick insight into my dad yeah,” Edwards says. “He spent my whole childhood telling everyone who would listen that he has the two best boxers Britain has ever seen. Better than the Klitschko brothers or anyone who has ever been before – the best. To a certain degree, us both winning world titles kind of proved it. So now he believes the world deserves what he has seen his whole life.
“But when I was 14, 15, 16 I was mixing it with my brother who was three years older than me. At aged 18, he stopped ever wanting to spar me again. I wasn’t invited to spar him. He does not spar me. My dad just wants to see an exhibition between, in his eyes, the best fighters that Britain have ever had. He thinks it would be something that’s never been done before.”
That is certainly true, however Sunny does not think talk of such a fight is realistic. When asked how likely an Edwards derby would be out of 10, he just laughs. “I don’t think he would ever fight me,” the younger sibling says.
“I think he’s a clout-chaser and that’s what this is about. It might have hurt him a little bit that I just signed with his old promoter and he wanted a bit of attention. Who could begrudge him that? I’d hate to be my brother too.
“First and foremost, he needs to work his way up the rankings. He’s in the middle of obscurity at the moment, to be calling my name when I’m top of the game, world champion with a lot of career prospects and storylines.
“There’s too much in front of me and not enough in front of him. He wasn’t calling out his little brother when he was a world champion, he didn’t’ give me a world title shot did he? And if he did I would have taken it off him then. Cheeky c**t. And he knows that as well.
“If I ever got offered it, don’t think I’m turning it down but I don’t think I’ll get it offered.”
For now, however, Edwards the younger has Campos on his mind. Any slip up would draw a line through fights against Martinez and Rodriguez, the likes of which can and will make him a star.
He says: “I know this is big-time boxing and I can’t take my eye off the ball regardless of whether the threat is perceived as higher or lower because there’s too much at stake and at risk.
“Yeah I could come back and rewrite the script but I don’t want to do it that way. I know that I can do it perfectly already.”
