My Money Was On Edwards

What hurts more for a professional boxer; losing due to being outclassed or losing to someone because they tried harder? Ask Paul Edwards. Now 8(2)-1-0, Paul Edwards lost in his first defence of his British Flyweight Title to the tireless 35 year old Chris Edwards(16(4)-14-3). Chris has developed a ‘Journeyman’ status over the years and has experienced some real hard times throughout his career fighting previously at Super Bantamweight and Super Featherweight. Last night, however, he showed great conditioning, 11 years the senior to the previously unbeaten Paul Edwards, Chris didn’t stop bouncing and remained wide eyed all night long and never eased off for a second. There is no question Paul Edwards looked the better ‘boxer’, but the more experienced man just did more.

Paul Edwards was tipped as big prospect before this fight and the scouse man did show signs of real quality throughout. At times you would see him drop his guard and stand perfectly still, just for a split second, before leaping in with a head-seeking missile of a right uppercut. Everybody knew what was coming, even the challenger, there was just nothing he could do about it. A wonderful punch! He managed to get this off a few times throughout the fight but it just wasn’t enough in the end. Paul wanted to box but his challenger was there for a fight! Don’t get me wrong, the former Super Flyweight British title holder showed some solid fundamentals using his jab really well and cut off the ring brilliantly but the game plan was ultimately to get in his face and apply the pressure.

Paul Edwards downfall throughout the fight was the reluctance to change his approach and he seemed to tire as the later rounds ticked by. The first round went well for him and a lot of rounds were close but as I mentioned earlier the older man just did more. In the last round we seen Paul turn the aggressor and go blow-for-blow and he had the better of it. The term too little too late comes to mind which inevitably lead to people asking themselves why he didn’t try plan b a little sooner.

A great win for Chris Edwards which makes a nice boost to his resume and a disappointing first loss for Paul Edwards. I think we are going to see a lot more from Paul Edwards, I think this loss is going be a valuable lesson for him and he’s only going to come back stronger. Paul took one scorecard at 115-114 but the two read 115-113 the other way.