It's been firmly established that Moses Itauma is the games most promising heavyweight. To a point that at age 20 and just 12 bouts on his ledger that he's already rated number one by the WBO. But the question is, is there an American counterpart to him?
A few years ago, many -- including myself -- thought it was the 25 year old, Jared Anderson. But Anderson has shown to be an unreliable individual, and was knocked out by Martin Bakole last summer in an ill-advised fight last. He is also coming up soon on his self-imposed retirement age of 28. So most -- including myself -- have jumped off that bandwagon.
Right now, young American heavyweights are a rare commodity. Think Osmium or Astatine. They are scarce and hard to find.
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This past Friday night I was at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, where a card was staged by Golden Boy Promotions. While the main event was the WBA super middleweight elimination bout between Bektemir Melikuziev and Darius Fulghum, I was just as curious to see the undercard which featured the likes of Cayden Griffiths, Eric Priest, Grant Flores, Daniel Garcia and most of all, heavyweight Joshua Edwards.
'Rocket' Edwards, who hails from Houston, Texas, was a 2024 U.S. Olympian, whose amateur credentials include a gold medal from the 2023 Pan American Games. There was a time and place when a heavyweight who represented America in the Olympics would be fairly well known. Well, it ain't 1984 any more, and Howard Cosell is long gone.
On this night, he took care of Alexander Rhodes in one round to improve to 2-0 (2 KOs). He didn't come into the pro ranks with all that much fanfare but he is creating an early buzz. Again, heavyweights matter.
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''It's been everything I dreamed of, actually,'' he said to the gathered press who made it out of this event, in the immediate aftermath of his bout. "In the amateurs it's just like a game of tag. But in the pros you can actually show off your skills, break people down, and do what you want to do."
Edwards is listed at 6'3 on Boxrec, and weighed just over 222 this past week. So he's not the prototypical size for the modern day big man, but he makes up for it with quick hands, fast feet and overall athleticism. His skill set has veteran trainer, Ronnie Shields, more excited than he's been in years.
"It's been awhile with a young prospect like Josh," he said while walking backstage on Friday night where Edward was getting his post-fight medical exam. "This kid, he works hard every day. He's always training, always ready. He's an exception to the rule."
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Several years ago, Shields was high on Efe Ajagbe, who has become a heavyweight contender. "The difference is this kid listens to everything. I told him tonight, 'start fast, I don't want you backing up. I want you using that quick jab that you have, make it a good stiff jab and follow with the right hand.' And I said, 'we're going home.'"
Which is precisely what happened. Shields admits that he didn't even really know about Edwards as an amateur, even though he's also based in Houston. Again, this isn't 1984. But as he began to work with the young man, he quickly warmed up to him. Shields is a veteran of the game, who is no stranger to being around world-class fighters. It's guys like Edwards that keep him young.
"Oh, without a doubt," Shields stated with a smile. "I tell you, we work hard every day in the gym. This is what happens when you work hard."
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Before the fight I asked Golden Boy Promotions president, Eric Gomez, how they got linked up with Edwards. He explained that it was Lester Bedford, best known for managing Jesse James Leija -- and bringing some notable boxing events to the state of Texas -- contacted him to gauge their interest. They went back and forth a bit, and eventually they agreed upon a deal.
'el Presidente' told me this week that there is some thought of putting Edwards on the June 28th card that features Jake Paul-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Anaheim, California. They will do their best to keep him active. But Shields makes it clear, "I don't want to move him fast, at all. He's only had 34 amateur fights, but just with the skill level he has already, we just want to keep building on that. When it's time, it's going to come."
Edwards seems like a level-headed and mature individual. As we've seen with Anderson, there's more to this than just the physical tangibles. He is well aware of the void that exists in the games glamour division in America.
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"Absolutely," he said, "everybody wants to be a knockout artist now instead of becoming complete fighters. I feel like I'm cut from a different cloth, Evander Holyfield, like the old guys. They were complete fighters, then they started working on their power. Everybody is in a rush to be a knockout artist, and they have no fundamentals."
He's an intriguing prospect, one that has his veteran trainer downright excited.
"Very excited," said Shields, with a chuckle. "I mean, you have to be excited when you've got a big man that moves the way he does."
3KR
This week on 'the 3 Knockdown Rule', Hall-of-Famer, Tim Bradley joined Mario Lopez and I:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1wFgHNwgzE&t=2s
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