Croydon’s former flyweight world champion Sunny Edwards announces retirement after stoppage loss to Galal Yafai

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Sunny Edwards has announced his retirement after his six-round loss to Galal Yafai in Birmingham on Saturday night.

The Croydon-raised flyweight, who held the IBF world title between 2021 and 2023, told his corner at the end of the second round that he did not want to be in the ring.

Edwards did continue but, from that point onwards, it only seemed a matter of time before Olympic gold medallist Yafai forced a stoppage.

The South Londoner has been known for his slippery style and difficulty to land cleanly on but there was a complete lack of footwork as Yafai had no issues getting up close and connecting.

Edwards was never down but the 28-year-old failed to heed referee Lee Every’s warning to start throwing punches back before the official stepped in.

Edwards’ record drops to 21-2. He was unbeaten until a bruising ninth round retirement against Jesse Rodriguez in Glendale, USA last year – a unification bout which saw him lose his IBF crown.

Yafai won the WBC interim world title.

“Galal started really fast, like we knew he would, but if I’m perfectly honest then win, lose or draw – my team knew this – I was retiring tonight,” said Edwards. “I don’t have the same energy that I had for the sport and for the process, I’ll be perfectly real.

“I put so much into the first six or seven years of my career that I just needed a break. I needed a break before this fight but I always want to compete with the best. While I was number one I wanted to be involved in the biggest fights and biggest events but I knew, I said all the way, that it was going to be hard tonight. But Sunny Edwards from 12 months ago would have got longer than six rounds.

“I don’t fully agree that the fight got stopped when it got stopped but he was throwing a lot and I wasn’t responding with a lot. I didn’t feel ridiculously hurt in there but once Galal starts letting his hands go it is hard to get away from them.

“I’m touching 20 years in a boxing career and I’ve been a professional now for about eight. I’ve been busy. Every time I got out of the ring I was only thinking about getting in the ring. It has absorbed my life, my happiness and my time spent. I’ve missed so many sports days, I’ve missed so many firsts in my kids’ lives to do this.

“With my body falling apart, I couldn’t get through a camp for the last four or five years without a bad wrist, a bad hand, a bad shoulder and two bad ankles.

“I probably knew (he wanted to hang up his gloves) after the [Adrian] Curiel fight (in June). I won it but I was in tears. I never had the same spark I had that helped me walk through fires and any challenges. I didn’t feel it in sparring, I didn’t feel it in training and I definitely, definitely didn’t feel it tonight (against Yafai).”

Greenwich’s Caroline Dubois will face Jessica Camara on January 11 in Sheffield. The 23-year-old has held the WBC interim world title since August.

Dubois has won all 10 of her bouts in the paid ranks, five of them by stoppage.

Canada’s Camara has a fight record of 14-4 and one of those reverses was an unsuccessful WBO light-welterweight title challenge against Kali Reis in 2021.

Battersea middleweight Denzel Bentley (20-3-1) will be attempting to regain his British title when he faces Brad Pauls at Wembley Arena tomorrow.

Bentley, 29, has won the domestic belt twice but lost it on a majority decision to Nathan Heaney in November 2023.

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