By Jake Donovan
Sunny Edwards continued his development as a super flyweight prospect with a convincing points win over Mexico’s Hiram Gallardo in their 10-round bout Saturday evening at O2 Arena in London, England.
Scores were 99-90 across the board in favor of Edwards (12-0, 4KOs), who was credited with an early knockdown en route to a lopsided victory.
Edwards remained in control for most of the contest although it was essentially a tale of two fights. The 23-year old Londoner was aggressive early in the bout, dominating the action against a willing target in Gallardo (12-3-2) who was fighting outside of Mexico for the first time in his career.
The bout’s lone knockdown came under questionable circumstances. Edwards switched between southpaw and conventional stance throughout the contest, including midway through round two when he caught Gallardo with a left hand. The follow-up cupped behind the back of the head of the visiting boxer, with Edwards inadvertently throwing him to the canvas, a right hand landing for good measure.
It was enough for referee Marcus McDonnell to rule it a knockdown, although the 10-8 round hardly had any bearing on the outcome. Gallardo shook off the sequence and continued to plow forward. He enjoyed his best round of the fight in the 4th, pinning Edwards along the ropes and—while not landing much—at least making things extremely uncomfortable for the local favorite.
Edwards spent most of the second half utilizing lateral movement, sticking and moving as to disallow Gallardo to get off his punches. It was perhaps a concession on the part of the unbeaten prospect that the night didn’t have any chance of ending inside the distance, although it ultimately detracted from the entertainment value provided earlier in the night.
Gallardo’s seven fight unbeaten streak comes to a close as he heads home to Mexico with his first loss since Feb. 2017 in suffering the second of back-to-back decision defeats.
Meanwhile, Edwards picks up his second win of 2019. He still remains a way off from his older brother Charlie, who presently holds a major title one division south at flyweight. Saturday’s bout was for a regional title, though, as the younger Edwards is being groomed for a title fight in the stacked super flyweight division.
Saturday’s bout aired live on BT Sport in England and streamed live on ESPN+ in the United States. Headlining the card, unbeaten British heavyweights Daniel Dubois and Nathan Gorman collide in a domestic title fight.
In the evening’s chief support, uneaten 2016 Olympic Silver medalist and rising British heavyweight Joe Joyce squares off with America’s former title contender Bryant Jennings.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox