By Ian S Palmer
Avni Yildirim of Turkey will be taking on American Derek Edwards for the WBC International Super Middleweight Title in Cologne, Germany this Saturday, March 3rd. Yildirim last fought in December when he stopped Attila Korda in the first round. Edwards’ last bout took place in April of 2017 when he dropped a 10-round split decision to Lolenga Mock in Sweden. This is Ylidirim’s second fight since September when he was knocked out in the third round by former IBO Champion Chris Eubank jr. in the World Boxing Super Series for the only loss of his career.
Yildirim is now 26 years old and has a record of 17-1 with 11 Kos to his name. He turned pro back in 2014 and has fought 85 rounds since then. He has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 61 per cent. He’s 5-feet-11-inches tall with a reach of 70 inches. The native of Sivas, Turkey has beaten the likes of Marco Antonio Periban, Glen Johnson, Zoltan Sera, Aaron Pryor Jr., Walter Sequeira, Schiller Hyppolite and Junior Jackson. His opponents haven’t been too bad experience-wise as some of them were pretty tough cookies.
Yildirim had a decent amateur career and fought often as a light heavyweight. He appeared to own a good chin until Eubank caught him and has won several regional WBC titles since turning pro. He’s solid and should be given credit for getting right back in the ring just eight weeks after losing to Eubank. Yildirim’s not at the Grade A level as of yet and will need to beat Edwards impressively if he ever hopes to become an elite boxer.
Edwards, hails from North Carolina, but fights out of Las Vegas. He’s now 38 years old and has lost four fights in a row by decision, one split and the other three unanimous. He’ll enter the ring with a mark of 27-7-1 with 14 Kos. He turned pro in 2002 and has 185 rounds of experience under his belt since then. He’s 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 72-inch reach, so gives up two inches in height to Yildirim, but has a two-inch edge in reach. Edwards isn’t a big hitter and currently owns a knockout ratio of 40 per cent.
Edwards’ biggest win was a first-round stoppage over Badou Jack in February of 2014 and he feels his experience against better opposition will help lead him to victory over Yildirim. Edwards has been beaten seven times and was stopped twice by by Matt Korobov and Adonis Stevenson. He’s also dropped decisions to Marcus Johnson, Andre Dirrell, Eric Skoglund, Gilberto Ramirez and Mock. He showed against Jack that he has enough power in his fists to do serious damage if he catches his opponent clean though.
Prediction
Edwards has faced some stiff opposition and world champions over his career and has been competitive against most of them. However, he’s hit a rough patch and is now pushing 40 years of age. I expect Edwards to put in another solid performance against Yildirim in Germany, but don’t think he’ll leave the ring with a win.
