SUNNY EDWARDS knows he has to dodge Monster Munch and horror punches to be crowned world champ on Friday night.
The 15-0 flyweight is taking on IBF champ and violent KO artist Moruti Mthalane, the heavy-handed South African with the freakish power to score 26 KOs inside 39 wins in the 8st division.
Sunny, the 25-year-old little brother to former WBC flyweight champ Charlie Edwards, has saved his strictest camp for his 16th fight.
He’s also promised the crispest performance of his career as the 5ft 3in magician tries to bag his first world title and tastiest pay packet.
Ahead of the BT Sport Frank Warren show, Edwards said: “I have taken this fight a bit more seriously than I have taken some of my previous fights.
“I have been guilty sometimes in the past of getting by on talent, even though I do work very hard.
“But sometimes you could tell, by looking at me on the scales or in the ring, that I have been a little fleshy.
“My diet was not always the cleanest – you only have to look at my brother because we have the same genes – but you only have to look at how shredded he gets compared to me sometimes.
“To reach the elite and compete at the top you have to apply and dedicate yourself and I feel like I have genuinely done that this time.
“There has been no Monster Munch two weeks out from the fight, like I have been guilty of eating before. I need to be 12-round fit and 12-round strong. My tank has to be full.”
Veteran Mthalane is on a 12-year, 16-fight win streak and beat his last four victims in their own backyards on trips to Japan, China and Kuala Lumpur.
Next is a road trip to the slightly less celebrated York Hall, Bethnal Green, where the brave Brit will try to replace him as the best flyweight on the planet.
“Moruti is the world No1 and has the knockout record to prove it,” Edwards added. “He has KO wins over plenty of great fighters.
“I have only been a pro for five years so I know how hard it is to be a pro for as long as he has and to go unbeaten for as long as he has.
“All the other world champions have avoided him so he is coming to my city and on a Frank Warren show, that shows why he is No1 in the division, which is what I am trying to be.”
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Edwards only has four wins inside the distance but his movement is enough to make anyone dizzy.
The trickster believes he is a puzzle his 38-year-old does not have the time to unravel.
“Over 10-12 rounds I am a difficult puzzle to figure out,” he said. “I am not going to try to stop the immovable object, I am going to dance around him and make him do what I want him to do.
“I am always changing my patterns of movement and my rhythm so it is very difficult to work me out inside 36 minutes, you probably need 60-70 rounds of sparring to learn what I do.
“Anyone is going to really struggle, especially when I take an early lead and make them start chasing the fight.
“It’s a 20×20 foot ring and I am one of the few people who can disappear inside it.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
