Sunny Edwards stunned the boxing world Saturday by announcing his retirement following a loss to rival Galal Yafai for the WBC interim flyweight title in Birmingham, England.
The admission from Edwards, 28, came shortly after DAZN cameras picked up a sobering exchange between the former champion and his cornermen following an action-packed second round of their interim title bout.
“Do you want me to be real with you?” Edwards said to his coach. “I don’t even want to be here.”
“Can I be real with you? I don’t want to be here.”
Damn. The fight game, man. Sunny Edwards is a fighter’s fighter, so to hear this so early in such a big fight is heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/XCmZWMrvjd
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 30, 2024
Edwards ultimately continued in the bout and sustained ample punishment from Yafai, 31, for another three rounds before losing via referee stoppage in the sixth round.
Afterward, Edwards announced his retirement from professional boxing.
“If I’m perfectly, perfectly honest, win, lose or draw — my team knows this — win, lose or draw, I was retiring tonight,” Edwards 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 involved in the biggest fights, the biggest events.
“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 than 12 months ago. I’ll be real.”
Edwards (21-2, 4 KOs) is a former IBF flyweight champion who held the belt from 2021-23 and defended it four times before losing to pound-for-pound star Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
Saturday’s scene was even more surprising considering the magnitude and history behind the bout.
Edwards and Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) have a rivalry that dates back to their days as fellow countrymen in the amateur boxing ranks, where Edwards won a split decision over Yafai. Despite Edwards’ success, Yafai was the one picked to represent England at major international tournaments, leading Edwards to turn pro while Yafai went on to represent England in the Olympics and ultimately win gold in the 2020 Games.
Saturday’s rivalry bout marked Yafai’s first opportunity to earn a piece of a major title since turning pro himself in 2022. In the end, it also served as a full-circle pssing of the torch moment, as Edwards hangs up his gloves for good while Yafai likely moves on to challenge for a major title next.
Catch full Edwards vs. Yafai results and round-by-round play-by-play with Uncrowned.
