WBC International 168lb title at stake, headlining a card in Cologne on Sky HD in Germany on March 3rd. Moderately interesting match-up between second-string bench-warmers @ super middleweight. Neither is ever apt to hold a world title, barring a very fortuitous set of circumstances, but they're both fairly entertaining and occupy that murky niche between regional & world class, making this kind of a pick 'em. Yildrim - while significantly less experienced - is younger, physically stronger, taller (1½"), and functionally the home fighter in Germany despite originally hailing from & still legally residing in Sivas İli, Turkey. He already hopped in the ring once since his WSBB tourney quarterfinal loss to Chris Eubank Jr. in October, taking out a 13-6 Hungarian in just ninety seconds for a confidence booster. He is now 17-1 (11) and making the first defense of his WBC International title after picking it up with a UD over tough Mexican perennial-bridesmaid Marco Antonio Peribán (whom Yildrim dropped late but couldn't finish off). Edwards, on the other hand, is coming in with zero pressure. He is on a 4-years and 4-fights (resulting in 4-losses) skid, albeit facing very solid opposition. Three of his losses in that span were by wide UD against top rated contenders (Andre Dirrell, Erik Sköglund, and Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez), none of whom ever put him down; the most recent was by SD in Copenhagen against Lolenga Mock, who did in fact drop Edwards but reportedly had a hell of a time with him after that. Plus, as soft a spot as I have for Lumumba Boy, the scorecards in his last couple of fights have seemed a little fishy, and there's just the hint of something rotten in the state of Denmark overall with this run of his of late. Edwards didn't even have a team with him for whatever reason, and was appointed some random Danes to work his corner by the local commission. Anyway, you may remember Edwards best as the last (and only) person to defeat Badou Jack professionally, icing him in a minute flat almost exactly four years ago (will have been four years plus a week come fight n ight). Before that he was a domestic prospect for many years who rapidly transformed into a gatekeeper. Funny that each man's greatest single triumphs are over Peribán and Jack, respectively - as that pair fought to a draw in 2013. Edwards has been stopped twice in 35 outings, by Adonis Stevenson and Matt Korobov (fighting the latter on short notice but giving a good account of himself). Yildrim was stopped just the once, by CEJ, in half as many - debuting a month after Edwards's KO1 of Jack. In other words, Edwards (whose campaign has a dozen more years on the odometer) is yet to score a W in the entire time Yildrim has been a pro. He is, however, undeniably the more polished and crafty of the pair, and has mixed with company of a much higher caliber for the most part. Like I said, moderately interesting little crossroads fight.
Note: there's a good chance this will conflict with Brook vs. Rabchenko, but IMO that one is an enormous mismatch, whereas this is closer to 50-50.
Hmm, even though nobody has done so except the powerful Superman and the sublimely-skilled (if frustrating waste of talent) Matvey K?
I think either would be the other guy's 2nd best victory (obviously Jack >> Yildrim and Peribán >> 38 year old Edwards) but they would be head and shoulders above the rest of each other's.
Eh, maybe in his late 30's/early 40's, but he was like 46 when Yildrim fought him (and had already lost his aura of nigh-invincibility and started to look "done" with the Makabu stoppage). I'm not sure I rate a win over that version of Glencoffe too highly. I mean, 38yo Edwards isn't an elite scalp either (and probably half the value of a 30yo Edwards) but still. He's able to hang with good opposition even recently; Johnson after many years of doing so was just a spent force by 2015.
Only if you think Brook is ruined. If you're remotely optimistic about him being the same fighter he was, you've got to figure Rabchenko ought to be outclassed easy-breezy.
