Sunny Edwards Keeps on Rolling; Turns Away Campos in his Matchroom Debut in London

Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport was at Wembley Arena tonight. The main event was designed as a showcase for one of Hearn’s newest signees, Sunny Edwards, the reigning IBF world flyweight champion. In the opposite corner was Andres Campos, an obscure but undefeated (15-0) fighter from Chile. Edwards, whose older brother Charlie once held a version of this same title, was making his fourth title defense.

The cocky Edwards had no fear of Campos. In the pre-fight press conference, he said “[I will] make this little muppet look silly for 12 rounds, if I let it go that long.”

It figured to go the distance as Edwards (20-0, 4 KOs) has no pop on his punches. But he’s very slick and judged by his placement at the top of the TSS 112-pound ratings, he is the best fighter in his weight class.

This was not Edwards’ best showing – the unheralded Chilean had some good moments – but Sunny showed his class, winning 117-111 across the board. (It was a good weekend for the Edwards brothers. Charlie returned to the ring last night after an 18-month absence and won a 6-round decision on a small show in Manchester.)

Co-Feature

In a good action fight, 25-year-old Londoner Ellie Scotney won the IBF super bantamweight title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Cherneka Johnson. A 26-year-old Melbourne-based New Zealander of Maori descent, co-managed by Lou DiBella, Johnson was making her second title defense.

This bout was originally scheduled to go three weeks ago on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s homecoming fight vs. Chantelle Cameron in Dublin. Although Scotney (7-0) was less experienced than Johnson, now 15-2, this was no upset. The cat was out of the bag after Scotney more than held her own in sparring sessions with Mikaela Mayer.

Scotney landed the cleaner punches, but the scores (97-93 and 98-92 twice) seemed a bit wide. Trained by 2016 TSS trainer of the year Shane McGuigan, Scotney is from the same stable as Chris Billam-Smith who upset Lawrence Okolie two weeks ago to become the new WBO cruiserweight champion.

Other Bouts of Note

In a battle of Brits, late bloomer Nina Hughes, a 41-year-old mother of two, improved to 6-0 (2) with a near-shutout of Katie Healy (6-1). Hughes, a 6/1 favorite, was making the first defense of the title she won in Dubai with an upset of Jamie Mitchell. Healy was the younger woman by almost 18 years and at five-foot-seven had a four-inch height advantage, but only one of her six wins had come against an opponent with a winning record and she was outclassed. The scores were 99-91 and 100-90 twice.

Jamaica-born cruiserweight Cheavon Clarke, who represented Great Britain in the Tokyo Olympics, advanced to 6-0 (5) with a fifth-round stoppage of David Jamieson (10-3), a 31-yearold Scotsman. Clarke had Jamieson on the canvas twice before the match was halted. The victory put Clarke in line for a match with British cruiserweight belt-holder Michael Lawal. Eddie Hearn has also teased the idea of a fight between Clarke and Jake Paul.

In the bout that proceeded the main go, heavyweight Jonny Fisher, the “Romford Bull,” improved to 9-0 (8 KOs) with a fast demolition of Emilio Salas (7-5-1) who went down from a glancing blow and showed no inclination to get back on his feet. It was all over at the 1:27 mark of the opening round. A 38-year-old New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, Salas had been stopped three times previously.

The Romford Bull has no subtlety to his game and thus seemingly has a limited upside, but heavyweight sluggers are always in demand and he is a promoter’s dream; he sells a lot of tickets.

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