Charlie Edwards revisited how “horrible” it was to watch his brother Sunny lose his undefeated status in a largely one-sided fight with Jesse Rodriguez.
The 31 year old fights on Friday evening, against France’s former European bantamweight champion Georges Ory, 32, at London’s York Hall – and does so for the first time since recruiting Stephen Smith as his trainer and agreeing promotional terms with Wasserman to fight on Channel 5.
Friday’s fight is also his first since, shortly before Christmas, he watched from ringside while his younger brother was broken down and stopped by one of the world’s most destructive fighters in Glendale, Arizona, and he said: “It was horrible. It was horrible.
“There was a picture that went out and I had my head in my hands when he was on the floor. It was horrible to watch. But my brother’s a strong character. He lives; he learns. He’ll come back and bounce back. It’s the game we live. It’s boxing. There can only be one winner and one loser, and when you’re mixing it with the top, things happen.
“We’re on our own paths and our own careers. I’m upset and I’m sad for him, but I understand boxing. That’s happened to me in the past, with [in 2016, John Riel] Casemiro, and he had to [watch]. As long as he was safe – I went to the hospital with him after the fight and he was good. We’re in this sport – I’ve seen him lose before in the amateurs. It broke his heart, and this did as well, but he’ll bounce back stronger.
“I was down for two weeks and checking in on him all the time; making sure he’s okay, ‘cause I know what it’s like being on the other end. But he was good, and he is good, and that’s all that matters.”
Sunny Edwards, 28, will return to the ring this summer, according to his self-managed older brother.
“I know when he’s next out and I know who he’s fighting next but it’s not my position to say,” he said. “Summer time.”