Sunny Edwards apologised to his trainer Chris Williams in the aftermath of his defeat by Galal Yafai.
Edwards retired after being stopped in six rounds by his leading rival at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England, and his disappointing performance contributed to the previously little-known Williams being criticised for his contribution.
In 22 fights under Grant Smith, Edwards had previously lost only once, to the great Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez. He and Smith then split after Edwards’ victory in June over Adrian Curiel of Mexico, leading to Edwards recruiting Smith for the contest with Yafai, in which he could be heard telling his new trainer that he didn’t “want to be in there” at the end of the second round.
Williams responded by attempting to motivate Edwards, who remained unconvincing and was therefore eventually rescued by Lee Every, the referee. At the age of 28 and from the ring Edwards then announced his retirement, and he later recognised that the nature and profile of the occasion may have done Williams’ reputation some harm.
“It was what it was, and I have to live with my decisions, and I feel sorry for Chris, if I’m being honest, because I put him in a terrible position and, since, I’ve apologised to him, because Chris is a good trainer,” Edwards told BoxingScene. “I didn’t show that.
“The little bits that I showed – there was some direct work from my camp with Chris. Things we’ve been working on. I just didn’t physically have it in me, or in my mind I didn’t believe so, to keep matching the intensity. In the meantime, I was trying to ride the storm or wait for it to slow a little bit, and then I was going to come. I was still in the fight; I was still fighting back. But the ref didn’t agree, and that was all she wrote.
“Do you know what’s crazy? I did try and see a mic [when I spoke at the end of the second round]. I didn’t think I was live on broadcast, if I’m perfectly honest, because normally there’s a little flashing mic that’s poking down. I didn’t think it was there, but it was more just an actual conversation response to my coach. We’re good friends, me and Chris, and he was trying to speak to me, and he didn’t understand why I weren’t responding, and I just told him the truth. I don’t know why, but the desire and the ego I fought with for so long, trying to be perfect in a boxing ring – for some reason he just weren’t inside me. And I’m just thinking, deep down, with the last 10, 11 weeks – the thought processes that have been going through my head – deep down, I knew this. But I hadn’t admitted it or accepted it or said it to anyone. So it was more just a conversation with Chris. But it weren’t, ‘Chris, can you get me out of the ring?’ I weren’t looking for a way out. I was just being honest. When he was telling me all of these instructions – all passionate – ‘Oh, Chris, I’m just here having a fight, man’. I want to give another big props to Chris Williams, because his speech he gave me – he found what was inside of me.”
Edwards was asked if the separation from Smith had contributed to his defeat, and he responded: “I guess we’ll never know. One thing about me, if I was going out, I was going out with a bang. Who knows? I wouldn’t comment on it because I think both environments that I’ve spent my time preparing for a fight was a good one. I really liked the work I did with Chris.
“But who knows? That’s sport, I guess. It was a lot going on, in a crucial time – maybe didn’t help. But at the same time I’m a 28 year old who spent his life fighting. I made every decision myself, so there won’t be one person who ships some blame. ‘Woulda; coulda.’ Grant was there shouting and screaming – all the Steel City boys were.”
Yafai, 32, is expected to challenge the WBC flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji in 2025. If Edwards remains retired, he will concentrate on commentary, management, and potentially becoming a trainer.
“I don’t want to rush to try to train my first fighter – that’s a big commitment,” he said. “A trainer should never decide to stop training with a fighter – if you’re a trainer, and that fighter likes you, if you start training that fighter you should see it through to the end of their career. Until I’m ready for that commitment, there’s gyms I’m very close to; there’s fighters I manage. My brother is an active professional still. I’ve got things I think I’ll be able to get my hands into, and training is something I’ve always really looked forward to and always enjoyed doing. I always enjoyed helping train fighters in the gym; helping doing pads and stuff. But I stopped doing pads and stuff when my wrists started going bad. Then I just weren’t trying to get injuries. At some point, maybe in a few years, I do think I’ll end up as [a trainer], because I do think that’s the closest thing to the feeling I got for so long from the boxing ring.”
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