Sunny Edwards boxes for Matchroom for the first time against Andres Campos on Saturday, amid speculation that Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez will be ringside to watch his possible future opponent.
Edwards and Campos meet at Wembley Arena in London and while dream fights like Rodriguez and Julio Cesar Martinez are floated, Edwards knows a slip up and those flyweight superfights will lose a lot of momentum.
“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,” Edwards admitted. “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.”
The 19-0 (4KOs) IBF champion, who boxes out of the Steel City Gym in Sheffield, has famously crossed swords with new promoter Eddie Hearn on social media over the years, but both parties felt the time was now right for them to break bread and make fights. Rodriguez and Martinez are both with Hearn and DAZN.
“I think at some point Eddie realised that what I was doing was getting the attention of the world’s biggest boxing promoter where previously it had been that infographics had been coming up on DAZN about possible opponents for Martinez and I was never mentioned on the commentary,” Edwards explained. “It was almost as if Sunny Edwards doesn’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. Don’t get me wrong, business is business. I will never personally fall out with someone over something that happens when there is money on the table because the conversation isn’t coming from a place of love.”
Regardless of that, the relationship appears to have gone full circle to the extent that Edwards has commentated on Matchroom fights on DAZN and he has ingratiated himself with Hearn.
“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,” Sunny added. “That’s perfect. In the last year, maybe upsetting Eddie 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.”
Because for Edwards, there is life after being a fighter, but no life without the sport in it. It is all he has done through his 27 years and all he wants to know. His passion is the sport, being in the gyms, being at the fights. It is what he does in his free-time now, immersed in the brutal business but still enjoying every moment.
“I don’t feel like I’ve worked a day in my life,” he went on. “I’ve never really had to do anything I don’t really want to and boxing is a big part of that. If I can use my 18 years of experience in this sport then I will. A lot of people don’t realise that before I stepped into the professional ranks, I was a child athlete. I started when I was nine and had a good lens of a very successful older brother who won European gold medals as a schoolboy and was one of the youngest ever to get onto team GB at age 15. I’ve soaked up every little bit of experience, probably more than many other fighters in my position. I feel like I’ve always approached boxing with a very open mind. I feel that I usually have a positive influence on the people around me rather than a negative one. I think they appreciate that, which is why they let me get my coaches’ license and you see me straight in corners. Boxing is my existence. It’s my life and it fills my schedule… I watch the Sheffield Sharks [basketball] when they’re playing at home but then it’s just boxing.”
Of course, there is Sunny Edwards on social media, too. Edwards carries a kind of infamy on social media for taking no prisoners, swapping banter and making the most of an increasingly no holds barred environment. Whether it’s rows with fans, fighters or promoters, Edwards willing accepts and in someways it has turned him into some kind of anti-hero. Someone who doesn’t shy away from trolls and the like, but who actually claps back 10 times harder. Combined with the positive feedback on his recent commentary gig, Edwards is finding a niche fanbase.
“I don’t know what’s happened over the last six to 12 months,” he smiled. “I’m not used to people saying nice things about me. It’s a bit of a change and I’m not really sure how to deal with it. I’m quite opinionated and, this might be the narcissist in me talking, but I feel I’m quite good at communicating it to people. Even if it goes against the grain of the room. Sometimes, growing up, I was a kid who went on the other side just to be different. It always seemed to be the easy with me. Now, 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. It means something to me outside of me holding my own place inside the world of boxing. 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. 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.”
Edwards was one of the few fighters who managed to go from Probellum to Matchroom seemingly without having to do anything with the relatively newly-formed Disrupt, along with the likes of Jack Catterall, Regis Prograis and Rocky Hernandez.
“The possibility of signing me when the dissolution of Probellum came up,” Edwards said of Disrupt. “I think my worth was proven. There were certain conversations I had at certain times showed that for my weight, from this country, at this stage of my life that I’ve built a very good foundation for myself.It doesn’t really matter where I go, my options are endless. I know I can go up or down, jump two, three weights. I know I can do that. I’m just waiting for my career to get to a point where it would be stupid to do that.”
And there is another mooted fight consistently doing the rounds, one that would pit Sunny against his brother, former WBC champ Charlie.
“If I ever got offered it, don’t think I’m turning it down,” Sunny said. “But I don’t think I’ll get it offered.”
