IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards overcame Andres Campos via unanimous decision on Saturday before calling for a unification showdown with WBO king Jesse Rodriguez.
The 27 year old was making his Matchroom Boxing debut at Wembley Arena in what turned out to be his fourth successful defence of the title since picking it up in April 2021.
There could be little doubt regarding the result upon the sounding of the final bell, although Edwards occasionally gave into the temptation to stand and trade with the Chilean as opposed to boxing at range.
The disparity in levels were clear between the pair when Edwards made the most of his fleeting footwork and made Campos miss but, eager to entertain, the Brit regularly retreated to the ropes and invited the challenger on.
Campos appeared frustrated when Edwards did choose to box and move, even dropping his arms in the fifth complaining about the champion’s unwillingness to hold his feet.
Edwards duly obliged the 26 year old and invited him to the red corner with his back to the ropes before making him miss and landing accurate hooks to the body.
The sixth round was Campos’ best of the night as he made the most of Edwards’ insistence to trade against the ropes but failed to garner any momentum as the champion continued to bank rounds down the stretch with cleaner, accurate shots.
Both men let their hands go in the final round – the most entertaining of the contest – before the Croydon fighter was announced a unanimous victor on the three judge’s scorecards (117-111 x3).
In the immediate aftermath of the result, Edwards took hold of the camera to callout the 23 year old Rodriguez who claimed the vacant WBO belt in April.
“Bam Rodriguez, where are you? I was waiting, you should be getting in the ring right now, what’s happened? Sign the contract”, Edwards said whilst clasping the DAZN camera.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, who also promotes Rodriguez, says he remains optimistic that the fight can be agreed within the next two weeks.
“It was a good performance tonight, but it was a performance that might make the other champions maybe a little bit more keen to fight him”, Hearn said.
“You won’t see him switching off against better opposition. Jesse Rodriguez against Sunny Edwards is a fantastic fight.
“I think that’s the next fight – Sunny has his doubts but I think we can get it done in the next two weeks.”
Edwards also explained his approach in the aftermath of the fight, admitting he conceded rounds on the night but wanted to provide an entertaining spectacle to those sitting ringside.
“I was counting the rounds, I knew the three rounds that he got. [They were] the rounds I let him get close enough to touch me.
“Going backwards no one can touch me. As soon as I just sit with squared shoulders and keep finding that left hand I could put everyone to sleep here for twelve rounds.
“I gave Campos and his travelling fans a couple of rounds. He was very tough, I thought I hurt him a couple of times but then he didn’t really give me the opportunity.
The Brit also took the opportunity to reaffirm his desire to land the big fights next, taking aim at the other champions in the flyweight division.
“There’s three other people that are saying the same things that I am when I’m the only one in my division that’s beat a world champion. All of these fighters are the vacant titleholders, they’re picking the easiest opponent.
“I want the big fights. You will never get the best out of me in a fight like that.”
The Undercard:
Catford’s Ellie Scotney defeated New Zealand’s Cherneka Johnson by unanimous decision to become IBF super-bantamweight champion after ten entertaining rounds.
Scotney enjoyed success at range, regularly firing straight rights through the champion’s guard who was unable to close the distance and let her own shots go.
The 25 year old is now world champion in just seven professional fights.
Essex’s Nina Hughes made the first successful defence of her WBA bantamweight crown against Walsall’s Katie Healy.
Despite surrendering a significant advantage in size, Hughes consistently stepped inside with impressive hand speed to offset the Midlander.
Healy continuously pushed to gain a footing in the contest but was unable to disrupt Hughes’ momentum.
A potential unification against IBF champion Ebanie Bridges, who was working as a pundit on the night, lies ahead with both sharing the same promoter in Hearn.
Elsewhere, Cheavon Clarke dropped David Jamieson on two occasions before stopping the Scot in the fifth.
Clarke is now set to challenge for Mikael Lawal‘s British cruiserweight title after winning the final eliminater on the night.
Heavyweight Johnny Fisher also stopped Emilio Salas inside a round in his ninth fight, while Reece Bellotti handed Youssef Khoumari his second loss in an eliminator for the British super-featherweight crown.
Shannon Ryan shone on her Matchroom debut, dominating Martina Bernile over eight at super-flyweight while middleweight George Liddard halted Nikolas Dzurnak inside a round.
Muhammad Ali completed his second pro outing with a comfortable four-round points victory over Bryan Castro at super-bantamweight.
Featured image: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.
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