Sunny Edwards calls for Paddy Barnes again following statement win

Sunny Edwards [9(3)-0] made plenty stand up and take notice last night

The English super flyweight dominated former European bantamweight champion Ryan Farrag over ten rounds at the York Hall, winning a wide unanimous decision live on BoxNation.

Now Edwards has restarted his calls for a fight with Ireland’s double Olympic bronze medallist and recent world title challenger Paddy Barnes [5(1)-1(1)].

The 22-year-old had called for Barnes back in January but was brushed off as the Belfast boxer chased a title fight with then-WBO flyweight champ Sho Kimura. Barnes would end up fighting WBC titlist Cristofer Rosales in August, being stopped in the fourth round at Windsor Park.

The Cliftonville little man gets back on the title trail on the Josh Warrington v Carl Frampton undercard in Manchester on December 22nd and Edwards has offered himself up as the opponent for this fight – or indeed any subsequent fights.

Speaking directly after his win over Farrag, Edwards outlined to iFL TV how “I can’t see him boxing me but I’d box him on the 22nd of December, that’s genuine.

“I saw him put in his interview that ‘no good fighter will box me over six rounds’. If he wants to fight me over six rounds, I’ll fight him over six rounds!”

“He said he wants a hard fight in March or April. I think I showed enough there, tonight, to show that I would be a hard fight in March or April, I know he said he wanted a little Mexican but if they want a domestic level for him show where he’s at.”

Edward acknowledges that a fight with Barnes is unlikely – he believes as he too risky for the 31-year-old

“He won’t get in with me,” said the youngster.

“It’s not because he’s not a good fighter, of course he’s a good fighter, but I genuinely, and I said this on BoxNation, I believe Ryan Farrag is a better fighter than him.”

“I feel like I would do that – if not easier – against Paddy Barnes but Paddy Barnes doesn’t need Sunny Edwards. What would he need Sunny Edwards for?”

“Unless I’m offering him something, why is he going to fight a 22-year-old that has just performed like that? He’s probably got what? Another loss? He’s lost a step-up and if he loses again, what are you going to do with him? Especially at a level before world level.”

“If you lose at world level you need to now build your way up from the bottom because he sort of side-stepped everyone and it didn’t work.”

Barnes holds a strong hatred towards the Edwards family, alleging that older brother Charlie spread a story that the Irishman pulled out of the 2015 Europeans after being ‘beaten up’ by him in sparring and the call-outs of Sunny have only served to intensify this disdain.

‘The Leprechaun’ has dismissed call-outs from Edwards previously but the outspoken Londoner believes that, with the impressive win over Farrag in the bag, he now has bargaining power and worth in the match-up

“I think my career prospects are looking nice,” said Edwards.

“Of course I want a Paddy Barnes fight but really I think now I can step back and let MTK and Frank Warren do their job because now I feel like I’m going to have a little bit more stock than I’ve had before.”

Watch Sunny Edwards’s interview with IFL TV in full below: