Sunny Edwards has only been retired from boxing for 18 months but he already has his hands full.
The former IBF flyweight champion, who lives in London but trained out of Sheffield with Grant Smith, is wearing many hats now he no longer wears the gloves.
“Look, at one point I was a fighter,” the 21-2 (4 KOs) Edwards told BoxingScene. “Before that, I was a fighter. My older brother [Charlie] would do it. And then I was a fighter myself. I help manage fighters. I help train fighters. I don’t train fighters full time, but I sort of dabble a little bit in everything. I commentate. I do a lot of the media stuff. So it’s just really a 360 deal with me of boxing. Anything I feel like I can genuinely add value and execute what I’m setting out to do, then I have every confidence in attempting to do so. It’s almost like the other side of everything else.”
Edwards lost his title to the brilliant Bam Rodriguez in 2023 in Arizona, and two fights later lost to domestic rival Galal Yafai in Birmingham. He walked away and never turned back.
“And, it’s a big part, the other side [of boxing],” he added. “And working with a lot of fighters and keeping them active and keeping them happy and regularly fighting, you realise you’re going through the same sort of process over and over again. And if I’m in a position to set up my own established shows where I don’t have to go and ask for the favours to bring a fighter through and put on good events in the right locations around the right fighters, then I see no reason why not. Obviously, there’s always a restriction on my time where I am spinning [different] plates. But with the right people doing a lot of the groundwork and with a good team and all heading in the right direction… Everything’s going okay.”
Edwards said he had no major plan for his post-boxing career, whether it was passing on his knowledge to the next generation or imparting it to a TV audience. He has just “organically” remained involved. He’s commentating on DAZN, he’s involved with managing some 20 fighters and he’s helping stage shows, such as the Full Monty Show in Gibraltar over the weekend.
Still only 30, Edwards added: “And when I’m focusing on each area, I do what I can do the best on and sort of overseeing it in a way there where I’m letting the other people do what they need to do as well. Then I’m not wasting my time and my boxing resources. I don’t know, [it could be] having meetings perhaps with the venue where we’ve got someone more than capable, [with a] strong relationship that can have that conversation. I think with the right delegation, I’m just being able to kind of stretch my legs wherever I need to at the moment.
“I do think I’ll settle eventually and I think it will be probably [with] training [fighters]. Coaching will probably be where I look to settle for the rest of it. I do like commentary though, is what I’ll say, but the managing and the sort of promoting and you’re close to the journey and it means something to you, you’re passionate about it. So they all sort of have their differences and also probably how much mental energy and time it takes. So yeah, it’s been good balancing it, but I’m working with a lot of good people that understand that I can’t always be just 100 per cent focused on this, but where I can be, I do give it my best attention and try and deliver as best as possible.”
