Moruti Mthalane v Sunny Edwards- Fight Preview
Friday 30th April 2021 will see Britain’s very own Sunny ‘Showtime’ Edwards (15-0-0 4KO) challenge South African Moruti ‘Babyface’ Mthalane (39-2-0 26KO) for the IBF World Flyweight Championship at the illustrious York Hall. It will be a clash of two different styles, the finesse of Edwards against the power of Mthalane.
In just his sixteenth fight, Sunny will be looking to become a world champion and keep his perfect record going in what is his toughest fight to date. Sunny last boxed in August 2020 when he claimed a comfortable unanimous points decision over the tricky Thomas Essomba and is improving fight by fight. He has claimed that he is the best in the world, and he gets to prove that this Friday.
Sunny will have to do something which nobody in over 12 years has done and that is beat Mthalane but he will surely be confident that he can claim the IBF title on home soil. Sunny's best win was arguably against Mexican Rosendo Hugo Guarneros who just recently beat fellow unbeaten Brit Tommy Frank but this is a huge step up. Sunny does have youth on his side and will certainly be looking to cause all sorts of problems for the South African.
The Queensbury fighter will be looking to add another World Champion to the promotional stable with only Tyson Fury being a current World Champion. Sunny is under no illusions that this fight is the toughest so far but if he can get the IBF title, he will surely be looking to add more to his collection and prove he is the best in the world. The build up to this fight has not been exactly ideal with reports suggesting he has fallen out with his brother & former world champion Charlie Edwards in recent weeks and it will be interesting to see if his brother will be at York Hall come fight night.
Moruti Mthalane has proven himself to be a devastating puncher in the Flyweight division having a knockout percentage of 67% during his 39 victories. He is no stranger to being the away fighter and in his past two bouts, he has recorded successive victories in Japan over Masayuki Kuroda and Akira Yaegashi respecitvely. The last time he stepped into the ring was in December 2019 so is yet to fight behind closed doors and it will be interesting to see if ring rust may play a factor in this fight. If it does play a part, Edwards will have to capitalise on this and win the early rounds.
Moruti has been a professional boxer for 21 years now and has an impressive CV with fights against Nonito Donaire, Zolani Tete and the currently ranked world number 2 in the Bantamweight Division John Riel Casimero. There is not a style that he has not come up against and will certainly be looking to put his experience to good use and will need to if he is to overcome the super talented Sunny Edwards.
This fight will certainly have a huge say on both fighters’ careers, what will Sunny Edwards do if he is victorious? Does he look to pursue a fight with fellow world champions Julio Cesar Martinez or Junto Nakatani? Also, what will the current IBF World Champion do if he tastes defeat for just the third time in his career? It is an intriguing contest we have in store with the bookmakers struggling to separate the pair but making the current Champion the slightest of favourites.
Fighter's Form (Last 5 fights)
Moruti Mthalane
Akira Yaegashi - WON by TKO 9th Round - 23/12/2019
Masayuki Kuroda - WON by UD - 13/05/2019
Masahiro Sakamoto - WON by TKO 10th Round - 31/12/2018
Muhammad Waseem - WON by UD - 15/07/2018
Ardin Diale - WON by TKO 2nd Round - 27/10/2017
Sunny Edwards
Thomas Essomba - WON by UD - 29/08/2020
Marcel Braithwaite - WON by UD - 21/12/2019
Rosendo Hugo Guarneros - WON by UD - 14/09/2019
Hiram Gallrdo - WON by UD - 13/07/2019
Pedro Matos - WON by TKO 8th Round - 27/04/2019
Event Information
Date: Friday 30th April 2021
Time: 10pm
Venue: York Hall, Bethnal Green
Channel: BT Sport 1