JUST A BLIP:
Edwards will
emphatically
bounce back
from this loss
to Casimerohttp://www.boxingnewsonline.net JULY 25, 2019 lBOXING NEWSl 33
He told his management team and promoter, “Get
me a six-rounder. I need to get out, I need to put my
mind to something.”
“I got beat by Casimero in September. I had three
weeks, lost my head and then, I got out and put my
head to it, got back in there in November. So got
straight back on the horse,” he explained. “I fought
the comeback fight, which I only got paid three-grand
for, going from a world title shot. But I didn’t care. I
wanted to get in there so bad. I would have fought for
nothing because I had to get back in there, I had to
get my head straight.”
From facing an intimidating champion
the bout before, for his comeback fight he
went up against a humble 3-4-1 journeyman,
Georgi Georgiev, in
an unremarkable
bout buried on
an undercard. Yet
Charlie experienced
something boxers
rarely go through and
hardly ever admit to.
Not nerves. Real fear.
“So weird. My hands
were all sweaty,”
Edwards said. “The
changing room, warming up, it was so daunting.
My head completely fell off. I was s**tting myself. I
was afraid. I was afraid of a six-rounder against an
absolute journeyman... It must have been sitting there
in the back of my mind.”
He turned to his brother, fellow professional fighter
Sunny Edwards. In no uncertain terms Sunny told
him how this Georgiev wouldn’t last a round with
Casimero. “He gave me a firm talking to, which I
needed but that’s what brothers are for,” Charlie said.
“You’ve got to be straight talking in this game and no
one better than your brother.
“When the bell went I was sweet. But it was a veryweird, weird feeling.”
He won that fight in three rounds but, despite
only being 10 bouts into his pro career, for many
observers he had gone as far he could. He was
consigned to domestic level. Edwards won the British
title but did not make a defence. He chalked up three
more wins with little fanfare.
“When you lose as a pro people think your career’s
done, over. And everyone was saying that about me
and the reality is it’s not. It’s how you bounce back,
it’s how you come back from your defeats and you
come back from your defeats that makes you
a fighter,” he said.
Edwards also sought guidance from a sports
psychiatrist. “My character’s only built because
I had professional
help. And I’m not
afraid to admit, I went
through very tough
times,” he said.
The Londoner had
improved, both his
mindset and his skills
as a boxer. He got
another opportunity
too. Last December
he was the underdog
once again when he returned to the O2 to take on
WBC world flyweight champion Cristofer Rosales.
Edwards boxed with confidence. Without hesitation
he handled the strong Nicaraguan to win a clear
unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
If anything he had benefited from his defeat. “The
loss made me. It really has,” he said. “I don’t get why
people are scared to fail. With failure comes growth.
You learn and you bounce back. Without failing you
will never grow.”
Defeat can be ugly and painful. It can hurt and be
humiliating. But it is also part of what makes a fighter
complete. bnMY HANDS WERE ALL
SWEATY. I WAS S**TTING
MYSELF. I WAS AFRAID OF
A SIX-ROUNDER AGAINST
A JOURNEYMAN”