Jayson Mama flexes his ripped physique to show that he is completely ready to fight IBF world flyweight champion Sunny Edwards in London, UK. | Photo from Mama’s Facebook account.
CEBU CITY, Philippines—- Filipino world title contender Jayson “Smasher” Mama was left utterly frustrated with the last minute withdrawal of the reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) world flyweight champion Sunny “Showtime” Edwards in their world title bout on September 11 in England.
Aside from months of grueling training in General Santos City, Mama and his team spent several days in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the mandatory quarantine only to arrive in London, England last Wednesday receiving the frustrating news that his world title shot was cancelled.
“Condition na sana, na cancel pa. Pero alam kong may magandang plano ang ama. Sorry po sa lahat ng nagaabang ng laban ko. Sana wag po kayong magsawang sumuporta sa mga laban ko. God bless all,” said Mama in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
(I am already in good condition, then it got cancelled. But I know the Father has something good planned for me. I am sorry for those who waited for this fight. I hope that you will not lose interest in supporting my fights. God bless all. )
Mama’s frustration even led him to black out his Facebook profile picture.
The No. 3 ranked flyweight contender has all the reasons to get frustrated after Edwards allegedly rolled his ankle roughly five days before their world title bout supposedly happening at the Copper Box Arena in London.
However, many boxing fans speculated that Edwards pulled out of the bout due to weight problems. It was highly unusual that Edwards injured his ankle when most boxers in this period only does very light training and focus on weight management.
It is the second time that Mama’s world title bout got cancelled. In December 2020, Mama’s world title shot versus the erstwhile IBF world flyweight champion Moruthi Mthalane was cancelled in the last minute also.
It was announced right after Mama and his team arrived in South Africa. There was a promotional issue between the boxing outfit that promotes the fight and the boxing governing body in South Africa that resulted to the cancellation of the fight.
Mama and Edwards are both undefeated with identical 16 victories in their resume. Mama has more knockout victories of nine while Edwards has four.
RELATED STORIES
World-title fight between Jayson Mama and Sunny Edwards called off
‘Smasher’ Mama of Gensan gets IBF world fly title shot
ARQ’s Abne to face boxing “idol” in Engkwentro Dos mainer
Apolinar is GAB’s ‘Boxer of the Month’ for July
Jerusalem is GAB’s ‘Boxer of the Month’