By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten IBF World Flyweight Champion Sunny Edwards of England will be defending his title for the second time when he meets once beaten Muhammad Waseem of Pakistan this Saturday, March 19th. Edwards last fought in December when he beat Jayson Mama by unanimous decision while Waseem beat Rober Barrera by unanimous decision in November for the vacant WBC Silver Flyweight Title. The clash comes from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Edwards won the title last April by beating Moruti Mthalane by unanimous decision in England.
The 26-year-old Edwards hails from London and enters the fight with a perfect record of 17-0 with 4 Kos. He’s boxed 125 rounds since turning pro in 2016 after a fine amateur career. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the English Junior & Youth National Championships in 2012, a silver at the Great Britain Junior Championships the same year, a gold at the 2013 and 2014 English Junior & Youth National Championships, gold at the 2015 English ABAE National Championships, bronze at the 2016 Gee-Bee Tournament and silver at the English ABAE National Championships in 2016.
Edwards has exceptional boxing skills and he’s needed them so far since he has little in the way of power with a current knockout ratio of just 23.5 per cent. He stands 5-feet-3-inches tall but unfortunately his reach is unlisted. Since turning pro he’s also won the WBO European, WBO International, IBF International, and BBBoC British Super Flyweight Titles.
Edwards hasn’t really fought any legitimate world class contenders however as his biggest wins have been over Mama, Ross Murray, Ryan Farrag, Junior Granados, Thomas Essomba, Marcel Braithwaite and Hiram Gallardo with his stiffest test being Mthalane. He’s fought just twice outside of England with his last outing also being in Dubai and his pro debut coming in Spain.
The 34-year-old Waseem carries around a record of 12-1 with 8 Kos. He made his pro debut in 2015 and has boxed 89 rounds since. He also had a fine amateur as he won a bronze medal at the 2009 Ahmet Comert Tournament, a gold at the 2010 SportAccord Combat Games, bronze at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, gold at the 2011 Benazir Bhutto Tournament, gold at the 2012 Pakistani National Championships and silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he lost to Andrew Maloney in the final.
Waseem stands 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 66.5-inch reach which gives him a three-inch height advantage over Edwards. He has pretty good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 61.5 per cent. Waseem’s lone pro defeat came at the hands of Moruti Mthalane in July 18 when he dropped a close unanimous decision in a shot at the vacant IBF Flyweight Title even though he dropped Mthalane in the 11th round.
Since turning pro, Waseem also captured the vacant WBC Silver Flyweight Title in 2016 when he beat Jether Oliva by a 12-round unanimous decision and somehow earned the vacant South Korea Bantamweight Belt in 2015 by stopping Min Wook Lee in the ninth round in his pro debut. Waseem’s biggest pro win was an eighth-round unanimous decision over former world champion Ganigan Lopez in 2019.
Prediction…
Edwards looked quite impressive in his title win over Mthalane and his first defence against Mama due to his slick boxing skills. He also has a pretty good chin but has been dropped before though. Waseem has as just as much amateur experience as the champion and almost been just as good as a pro but he’s eight years older. Waseem should give Edwards a run for the money but if the champion fights as well as he did against Mama a few months ago he should be able to retain his belt.
