IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards has his next mandatory challenger, and it’s a tough one. Levi Luna reports that Edwards, whose last mandatory defense came in December, is due to face former light flyweight champion Felix Alvarado in the latter’s second fight since he relinquished his title.
This represents a left turn for both men. According to Jake Donovan, a planned unification between Edwards (18-0, 4 KOs) and WBC champion Julio Cesar Martinez fell through after “Rey’s” team refused to submit a contract. Alvarado (38-2, 33 KO), on the other hand, was ready to keep busy on the 24th of this month.
Losing the unification fight sucks and is another blot on Martinez’s record in a year full of fights, but I can’t exactly complain about this matchup. Alvarado was a beast at 108, only moving up when his fellow champions refused to fight him. 13 of his last 14 wins have come from within the distance, admittedly him at times against bad competition, but he absolutely outclassed solid challengers in Randy Petalcorin and DeeJay Kriel.
If you wanted to see Edwards’ technical wizardry against a seek-and-destroy puncher, you’re still getting what you want. Between this and reports of some tasty matchups at 108, it’s a great time to be a fan of the little ones.
