Sonny Edwards is once again facing an extended break despite his dominant win over Mexico's Adrian Curiel on Saturday night.
Seven months after losing his IBF flyweight belt in a title unification bout against then-WBO champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in Glendale, Edwards returned to Arizona and dominated the former IBF light flyweight champion.
Edwards faced Rodriguez in December and, although he received praise for his performance, lost the title after suffering a fractured eye socket following a high-level, hard-contact fight.
The 28-year-old revived his signature move against Curiel and appeared to be on his way to a drama-free victory, but an accidental clash of heads in the sixth round left him with a large vertical cut above his right eye.
Referee Mark Nelson allowed the fight to continue until the end of the eighth round, but with blood streaming directly into Edwards' eye and his corner faced the impossible task of stemming the flow, the bout was duly stopped at the start of the ninth round, with Edwards awarded a unanimous technical decision.
“The crowd didn't know what was going on,” said Edwards, 21-1 (4 KOs), who seemed confused by the volume of booing he received during his post-fight speech. “The referee and doctor stopped the fight. It wasn't my request, it wasn't my decision, and I'm more upset about it than any of the 10,000 fans in here.”
“I thought I won every round. I thought I was clearly in the lead and I thought my opponent was off the pace. I'm more disappointed. I thought I could put him out there and, even if I didn't, I was absolutely going to win decisively. I left Arizona ugly two rounds in a row. That was not my intention.”
Edwards appeared to be in complete control from the moment the opening bell rang, but referee Chris Wilson ruled him ahead by just two points when the bout was stopped, and Edwards couldn't comprehend the 87-85 score.
“The last time I was here, one of the referees didn't give me a round and the ref gave me like a thousand low blows, so I don't expect any favouritism when I come to America, but I thought I was totally dominant,” he said. “I could probably win one round.”
“I don't know how it looked from the outside. I felt like I was winning easily. Everyone around me, my manager, my promoter, told me over and over again: 'Go back to boxing and show people you can't hit them.' The only hits I thought I took were headbutts.”
Edwards announced he had agreed to a bout with Olympic gold medallist Galal Yafai at 7-0 (5 KOs), but unless the cuts look worse than they are, the severity of the injury seems certain to postpone any plans for a fight between the two Britons until the end of the year at the earliest.
“Galar, I'm ready,” he said. “I think I'm the biggest name in the flyweight division.”
“My coach, who won against Galar as an amateur and is still my coach today, [Rob McCracken] I chose him [Team Great Britain for the Olympics] anyway.
“I signed up for the fight.”
