Sunny Edwards makes his debut under the Matchroom banner this Saturday night at the OVO Arena, Wembley, and his quest to unify the flyweight division must wait for now, as he defends his IBF title against Andres Campos.
DAZN televise Edwards vs Campos live worldwide, while Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing promote the card.
Edwards (19-0, 4 KOs) has evolved into a tricky world champion since winning the belt against the long-reigning Moruti Mthalane in a masterclass points win in April 2021.
The 27-year-old has made three defences since, in clear wins on the cards against Jayson Mama and Muhammad Waseem, but last time out, he was made to work hard in a unanimous verdict against Felix Alvarado in Sheffield last November.
‘Showtime’ desires a meeting with WBO champion, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, as well as WBC holder, Julio Cesar Martinez, but he must overcome the relatively unknown but unbeaten Chilean to move closer to that possibility.
Campos (15-0, 4 KOs) is also not a noted puncher, and he has risen up the rankings thanks to being a fringe champion with the WBO.
The 26-year-old went ten rounds twice in 2022, but did score a knockout in his sole outing in 2023, a fourth round stoppage of Carlos Ruben Dario Ruiz in January.
Prediction: This looks set to be a technical affair, and Edwards will likely box and use his strengths to negate what Campos have to offer. The pick is a clear points win for Edwards here.
Scotney challenges Johnson
There are another two world championship fights on the undercard.
Ellie Scotney (6-0) has been impressive in racking up half a dozen wins in her professional campaign, winning the European title along the way, and looks to become IBF super bantamweight world champion against champion, Cherneka Johnson.
Johnson (15-1, 6 KOs) makes the second defence of the crown she won with a majority decision win over Melissa Esquivel last April.
Prediction: Scotney should be able to become the new world champion by taking a points win.
Hughes defends title against Healey
Nina Hughes (5-0, 2 KOs) makes the first defence of her WBA bantamweight title that she superbly won against Jamie Mitchell last year.
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Shannon Courtenay was due to be the opposition, but the former world champion pulled out.
Prediction: Hughes can retain against late replacement Katie Healy (6-0) by decision.
Remaining Undercard
Cheavon Clarke (5-0, 4 KOs) steps up in class, and he can halt David Jamieson (10-2, 7 KOs), in their British cruiserweight title eliminator set for ten rounds.
The final ten rounder is at featherweight, and in what could be a shootout, Youssef Khoumari (15-1-1, 6 KOs) can stop Reece Bellotti (15-5, 13 KOs).
Johnny Fisher (8-0, 7 KOs) faces a southpaw for the first time, and he should score a stoppage win at heavyweight against Emilio Salas (7-4-1, 3 KOs) in their contest set for eight.
Super flyweight prospect, Shannon Ryan (4-0) should bank a points win over eight against Martina Bernile (5-1, 1 KO) and George Liddard (2-0, KO2) can take his middleweight six rounder against Nikolas Dzurnak (5-3-2, 5 KOs).
Super bantamweight prospect, Muhammad Mustafa Ali (1-0) completes the card against an opponent to be confirmed.
