Sunny Edwards defeats Adrian Curiel but left frustrated by lack of talk about Gamal Yafai bout
Sunny Edwards has voiced his frustration at not being able to secure a domestic flyweight clash against Gamal Yafai.
Edwards, from Croydon, won a technical decision over Adrian Curiel on Saturday night in Texas.
The bout went to the scorecards after nine rounds as the 26-year-old suffered a deep vertical cut above his right eye that was caused by a head clash.
Edwards is now 21-1 (four KOs) and back on the winning trail after having his first bout since losing his IBF world title to Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in December.
The South Londoner wants to face Birmingham southpaw Yafai, who won gold at the 2020 Olympics, and is 7-0 in the professional ranks.
But Edwards is not confident it will happen. He told iFL TV: “I’ve asked about seven times and probably about five different people – all with good real insight – and not one person has said ‘yeah that fight is done’ or ‘yeah, that fight is nearly done’.
“One of the most important people, I’m not going to say who, went: “Oh, we can do something else’. I don’t think Galal (has said no to the fight).
Maybe it is his team or maybe it is bigger – [that there is] no world title. There is always going to be an excuse.
“Who is a bigger name in the flyweight division than me right now? Especially now Bam (Rodriguez) has f***** off (by moving up in weight).
“Because of me (they want to see the Yafai fight). When he fights, no-one cares. Let’s be real even if I like him, he’s my friend.
“Galal is a good fighter – but I’m just saying names-wise. Until someone fights me, nobody cares about them. That is how it looks from my perspective. I don’t hear people really talk about flyweights unless I’m involved.”
Edwards was displeased with the manner of his win over Mexico’s Curiel (24-6-1).
He said: “I listened to instructions and did what I was told. It was back to ‘boxing Sunny’. Now I can’t gauge how good those rounds are because I like a fight.
“It was disappointing overall. Not that anyone cares, but my whole boxing career always seems to have something – even when I’m winning. I won my world title behind closed doors in front of 30 people.
“I defended it twice, nobody really cared. Then when I lost, people started caring again.”
PICTURES: MELINA PIZANO/MATCHROOM BOXING
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