SUNNY EDWARDS expects Lee McGregor to hit new heights now he has joined forces with him in Sheffield at the Steel City Gym. McGregor will begin his new partnership with Grant Smith this Saturday (May 18) in Glasgow on the undercard of Josh Taylorโs IBF super-lightweight challenge against Ivan Baranchyk at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
Edwards, who is impressing at super-flyweight, has known McGregor since the pair met in the GB finals in 2015, with McGregor coming out on top and they have remained friends ever since with Edwards advising the Scot to join him in Sheffield, after he decided to leave trainer Shane McGuigan.
The 23-year-old as well as supporting McGregor, is also looking to build on his growing reputation and is likely to return in June or July, where he could well fight on the undercard of Daniel Dubois and Nathan Gormanโs anticipated clash for the British heavyweight title.
His last win against Pedro Matos saw him secure an eight round stoppage, which saw Edwards move to 11-0 and secure a place in the top 10 of the WBOโs rankings. He explained his current situation toย Boxing News:ย โI was told by Frank Warren that I would be out again on July 13, since then weโre just waiting to see if that has changed and get some more information, which we should have in the next few days.
โThereโs two options available as far as we know, one of which is a TV slot on the bill, which Iโd love as itโs a huge bill, but there is also a possibility that I will be headlining a smaller bill at York Hall, so itโs just a case of them dotting the iโs and crossing the tโs.โ
โMatos was surprisingly tough. Itโs not well known, but as an amateur he beat Josh Pritchard who was signed to the McGuigansโ at 56kgs, so he wasnโt a mug by any means. His pro record didnโt show him to be much, 7-1 with only one stoppage and getting stopped by Juan Hinostroza, who is much better than his record suggests, especially over the later rounds,โ he continued.ย โI was happy with the performance all-in-all. I maybe went out looking for the stoppage in the earlier rounds, so he went missing and negative, so I stood there in the fifth and sixth, so heโd open up and then that was where I started taking him apart. I was taking some silly shots, but when the gameplan was to get him out, youโre going to take a couple, as youโre going to be sat in the pocket.
“I proved that when I do let my hands go, I can hurt people. Iโve never tried selling it that I am one of the hardest punchers in the world but I clearly have enough on my shots that it stops people in their tracks going back to the Ryan Farrag fight, who couldnโt get to me, Junior Granados as well, apart from the one shot that he put me down with, so Iโve got enough power to keep these fighters off.โ
There has been no word on an opponent yet for Edwardsโ next fight, however he was recently called by the British Boxing Board of Control to contest the vacant British title against Tommy Frank, who also holds the Commonwealth title.
The belt has been vacant since Sunnyโs older brother Charlie, who is now the WBC world champion at flyweight, left it behind after beating Iain Butcher. Sunny, who is certainly not shy in giving his opinion, wants the fight with his Sheffield rival, but isnโt so sure that Frankโs team will step up to fight him.
โItโs been mandated but I believe that his team will keep him well away from me despite being told by everyone around him that Tommy Frank will be a clear winner and that I offer him nothing, which is bizarre. There would be very few people out there who would argue that he has done more and has a more promising career than me up to this point, but thatโs by the wayside as opinions are just opinions,โ he said. โIโve sparred him a few times and heโs decent, very tough actually so Iโll give him that but Iโm under no illusion as to what happened in those sessions. I can take plenty of confidence from the spars, but thereโs no way I would get complacent over it because some fighters are different on the actual night as opposed to in the gym, whether it be in a good way or a bad one.
โIโd like to take the fight as itโs a perfect place for it to happen because heโs got the Commonwealth and Iโve got the ranking belts in the European and International with the WBO, so add the British in there then we can have four belts on offer for the winner. Weโre both from Sheffield, both on the way up and young, so it makes loads of sense because the loser can come again.โ