Boxing: One of the world's leading five fighters faces his biggest threat so far in Sheffield
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Speaking ahead of Sunny Edwards’ meeting with challenger Felix Alvarado, Schaefer placed the 26-year-old among his top “pound for pound” boxers, claiming: “He has the skills and that will to win.”
Alvarado, from Nicaragua, is expected to present Edwards with the most difficult test of his career so far having stopped 33 of his previous 38 opponents. The only two losses on his record came nearly a decade ago, with Alvarado amassing 20 straight wins since. One of those came against former light-flyweight champion Randy Petalcorin.
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Hide AdEdwards, who has won all of his 18 outings since turning professional, acknowledged the threat Alvarado poses, saying: “He was a world champion at the weight below and has boxed at the highest level. He’s a big puncher who has had more knockouts than I’ve had fights and he is hungry for this.”
Edwards must overcome Alvarado to realise his ambition of staging a mega-fight with American Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, who holds the WBC super-flyweight belt, next year.
Schaefer, who places the Londoner in the same class as the likes of Oleksandr Usyk, Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jnr, who wrestled the IBF welterweight strap away from Kell Brook at Bramall Lane in 2017, is also wary of Alvarado’s power. But, stressing that Edwards’ skills could prove crucial, he said: “His (Edwards’) ability to slip punches is the highest level of any weight class. I would rank Sunny in the top five pound for pound.”