Sunny Edwards withdraws from fight on Saturday with ankle injury

The IBF flyweight champion was scheduled to make first defense vs Jayson Mama

Frank Warren announced that Sunny Edward’s first defense of his IBF title against challenger Jayson Mama on Saturday has been called off after the champion suffered an ankle injury. As of now, there is no word on whether the card will continue minus the main event, or if it will be moved to a new date entirely.

Edwards won the IBF title in April by unanimous decision against longtime flyweight kingpin Moruti Mthalane, making excellent use of the ring and outboxing his heavy-handed but significantly older opponent.

For a fighter with Edwards’ skillset, an ankle injury would be a massive challenge to overcome. Hopefully he’ll recuperate quickly and get back in the ring against Jayson Mama soon.

Edwards issued a statement addressing the unfortunate news.

“Gutted that my fight on Saturday is off. Will have a rescheduled date ASAP. Want to apologise firstly to my opponent Jayson & his team, as I understand the frustration they must be feeling, secondly Frank Warren & BT as my homecoming was set to be the biggest night of my career, and finally everyone who was looking forward to my first world title defence. I am genuinely devastated but with the advice from those close to me, it would of been a poor error of judgement risking the position I’m in now, fighting whilst not 100%. More info to follow.”