Finally!! Sunny Edwards Bows Out After Galal Yafai Overpowering Victory

Sunny Edwards retires after an intense clash with Galal Yafai on Saturday night

Sunny Edwards after defeat to Galal Yafai (not pictured) in the WBC Interim World Flyweight bout at the BP Pulse Live in Birmingham. He has retired from boxing / Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images.

By Isaac Nyamungu

Sunny Edwards (born 1 January 1996) is a British former professional boxer who held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight title from 2021 to 2023. He is the younger brother of former flyweight world champion and current European bantamweight title holder, Charlie Edwards.

Edwards, who hails from south London but trains in Liverpool and lives in Sheffield, connected with some single shots late in the third round, but it was a brief salvo. Yafai sustained the persistent pressure in the fourth round and Edwards took some big shots on the ropes.

Edwards has maintained iconic performance since he joined boxing profession. He made his professional debut on 24 September 2016 at the Recinto Ferial in Estepona, Spain, scoring a four-round points decision (PTS) victory over Sergey Tasimov.

After winning his first five fights, one by stoppage, he faced undefeated prospect Ross Murray (6–0, 1 KO) on 27 November 2017 at Grange St. Paul's Hotel in London, with the vacant WBO European super-flyweight title on the line. Edwards won the fight via fourth-round technical knockout (TKO). Following two more wins, he successfully defended his WBO European title on 26 October 2018 with a ten round unanimous decision (UD) victory over Ryan Farrag at the York Hall, London. Two judges scored the bout 100–90 while the third scored it 99–91

Yafai sustained outmaneuvering performance over Edwards. He was all over Edwards like a rash from the opening bell and by the end of round two, the former IBF flyweight champion made a dreadful concession to his corner.

"Do you want me to be real with you?" Edwards said to his trainer Chris Williams. "I don't even want to be here."

Williams, who was in Edwards' corner for the first time, replied: "Don't be f***ing stupid lad.

"Listen, stop feeling f***ing sorry for yourself right now.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself because you have had one f***ing bad round."

As the action dragged on, Edwards began to grit his teeth and fire back.

But a brutal offensive in round six provoked the referee to step in and wave off the fight.

In the instantaneous aftermath, Edwards stooped to Yafai before announcing his retirement.

"If I'm perfectly honest, win, lose or draw - my team knows this - win, lose or draw, I was retiring tonight," he said.

"I don't have the same energy that I had for this sport — for the process. I'll be perfectly real.

"I put so much in for the first six, seven years of my career that I just needed a break.

"I needed a break really before this fight, but I always want to compete with the best, and whilst I was the No. 1, I wanted to be involved in the biggest fights, the biggest events.”

Edwards (21-2, 4 KOs), 28, had a three-year reign as world champion and claims he has lost his desire to continue boxing.

"But I knew — I knew — I said the whole way that it was going to be hard tonight.

"But the Sunny Edwards from 12 months ago would've gone longer. I'll be real."

Edwards, 28, retires from the game with a 21-2 record having also tumbled to loss to Bam Rodriguez last year in a unification bout.

Yafai, 31, shifts to 9-0 as a professional and is now the WBC provisional flyweight titlist.

Both fighters had a rivalry originating back to the amateurs where Edwards conquered Yafai on points.