Boxing Trainer Stephen Edwards Says Mayweather-Pacquiao Impasse Is Bad For The Sport
One world class boxing trainer believes that the current Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao impasse is bad for the sport of boxing. Stephen Edwards, who handles the careers of the likes of Julian Williams and others, opines that by not agreeing to the supposed super fight for years now, boxing has suffered a dip in the eyes of the fight fans.
“I think that the [talks of the] fight was the worst thing that could ever happen to boxing and I [am going to] tell you why… You will have people that will disrespect a kid like Kell Brook, who came over here and beat Shawn Porter. Kell Brook is a [hell of a] fighter,” Edwards said via an interview with Fight Hype’s Percy Crawford. “But they’ll say something like, ‘Man, I don’t want to see nobody except Pacquiao/Mayweather at 147 [pounds]. Well, this kid is 33-0 [win-loss record] and can fight. You guys need to be embracing him. May weather and Pacquiao is what, 36 and 37 years old? How much longer [are they going] to fight?”
Aside from being one of the more respected boxing trainers in the business, Edwards is also columnist for the boxing website, boxingtalk.com, where he interacts with boxing fans in some question-and-answer sessions.
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“It's absolutely ridiculous the disposition that this has created in the boxing community. Guys that used to be friends, one will take one side and one will take the other side and it will almost come to blows,” Edwards added in the same interview expressing more disgust on how the Mayweather-Pacquiao non-fight have dominated the boxing headlines. The trainer also said that boxing fans should start appreciating the other up-and-coming fighters in the division mentioning the likes of Brook, Errol Spence, Amir Khan and Keith Thurman, among others.
Under Edwards is Williams, who is undefeated in 18 pro fights. Williams recently won the World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas light middleweight title over Jamar Freeman via an 8th round technical knockout win last Dec. 20, 2014. Others Edwards mentioned are Brook, who has a record of 33-0-0 with 22 knockouts and holds the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title; Spence, a 24-year-old prospect also in the welterweight division with a record of 15-0-0 (12 KOs).
Khan (30-3-0, 19 KOs) and Thurman (24-0-0, 21 KOs) are two of the top contenders in the same weight division. Khan has been mentioned as one of the probable opponents for Mayweather if the latter doesn't pick Pacquiao in 2015 while Thurman is a knockout artist who is the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) World welterweight title.
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The latest on the Mayweather-Pacquiao front is still the same since November 2014, or years ago since 2010 or 2011 when it was first discussed, when both fighters publicly called out each other and that they want the super fight to happen in 2015. No deal has been finalised however as boxing fans and enthusiasts continue to wait for what could be the biggest fight in boxing history to be set in stone.
