Sunny Edwards promoter Frank Warren has revealed the identity of the opponent the new IBF flyweight champion will face in the first defence of his title.
Writing in his regular column which was published on the BT Sport website Warren says Filipino Jayson Mama (16-0, 9 KOs) will be the man tasked with taking the title away from Edwards.
Edwards put in a brilliant performance to outclass Moruti Mthalane last month to win the world title. It was a display that had the boxing community running out of superlatives such was the domination he showed in the fight.
Mama, nicknamed ‘Smasher’, is currently ranked number three with the IBF with the second and first spot sitting vacant at the moment.
The 24-year-old hasn’t fought in a scheduled 12-round in his career and, on the same night Edwards beat Mthalane, Mama forced Romshane Sarguilla to retire from their fight in the 8th round. Mama had been scheduled to face Mthalane in the champion’s hometown of KwaZulu-Natan last December. The bout was called off by the South African boxing commission after event promoter Tono Promotions failed to meet the minimum standards required to put the show on.
“What we had to do to get Sunny Edwards his shot at the world title was pay the mandatory challenger, Jayson Mama, step-aside money. The IBF have said now that Sunny must defend his belt against this guy now so that will probably be his next fight,” said Warren.
“We’re negotiating the terms of that fight now, which looks like it might be in the Autumn. Mama is a Filipino fighter and he’s very talented, so it won’t be an easy defence for Sunny.”
Main image: Queensbury Promotions