Sunny Edwards to challenge for IBF world flyweight title at end of April

Sunny Edwards will challenge for the IBF world flyweight title against Moruti Mthalane on April 30.

It will be the 25-year-old’s first crack at world honours in his 16th fight as a professional, with the British super-flyweight champion having won belts at both fly and super-fly, including the IBF International and Intercontinental, along with the WBO International and European.

Croydon’s Edwards is a confirmed admirer of his forthcoming opponent.

“Moruti is the most criminally underrated fighter, having not lost in 13 years and he is a proper, proper threat,” he said. “This is no gimme or easy world title for Sunny – it is very, very far from that.

“I asked for this fight and, if you look back at press conferences or interviews, you can see that I have wanted it for some time. In my head, this is what was coming to me and it is finally here and I have got what I wanted.

“Now it is my chance to prove myself and this will be the best benchmark I could have. I have beaten Olympians and people who have mixed at European and world level, but this is real genuine world level. This is my introduction as I have not been there before.

“He is as legit as they come. A big puncher, 41 fights, 39 wins and 26 knockouts. If I go and do this, capture the world title in my 16th fight, nobody can really argue. This will qualify everything I have been saying – if I do it. Moruti is no pushover by any stretch of the imagination – he is a very, very, very good fighter.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD