Charlie Edwards has ruled out ever settling his sibling rivalry with his brother Sunny in the ring.
Charlie, 31, and Sunny, 28, have both held world titles in the past and are looking to return to the top of the sport, with the former back in action on Friday night in a European bantamweight title fight against Thomas Essomba.
The fight has taken on added intrigue due to Sunny being Essomba’s manager and making it crystal clear he will be rooting against his brother.
Charlie is used to his brother trying to get under his skin, and admits the pair have always tried to get the better of one another.
He insists that competitiveness was driven by his dad from a young age, and claims their father wants them to fight each other under the bright lights, but is adamant that will never happen.
Charlie Edwards (pictured) is back in action on Friday night at Bethnal Green’s York Hall
He is fighting Thomas Essomba, who is managed by his brother Sunny (left)
Charlie claims his dad wants the brothers to fight each other, but has shut down talk of the sibling match-up ever happening
Speaking on a potential showdown with his brother, Charlie told Mail Sport: ‘That’s my dad’s dream. And I don’t talk to my dad really anymore for a few years now because I’ve grown up and I’m a man now and I don’t like that energy.
‘He always played us against each other, I see it for what it is. The sad thing is it’s his dream that we fight on the big stage, and I don’t know if that’s like a narcissistic thing, but that’s what he would try and do.
‘But for me, no thank you. I love my family. If I was to put 8oz gloves on and fight my brother and hurt him, I could never live with myself anymore. I also love my nephews and that’s their dad. Why am I going to do something like that? We don’t need to fight each other.’
Sunny is set to be at ringside at the iconic York Hall on Friday as Charlie bids to take a step back towards becoming a world champion again in a new weight division, having previously held the WBC flyweight title.
The younger brother is likely to be barking out instructions for his charge to beat his sibling, but Charlie believes it will not make any difference to the outcome of the fight, and revealed he has no hard feelings towards Sunny for wanting him to lose.
‘It’s no skin off my nose, it’s nothing new to me that he’s going against me,’ Charlie continued. ‘To be honest, it actually pushed me even more.
‘I’m grateful because I’ve been out of the light for so, so long and this brings more eyes, more attention to this fight, and it allows me to go onto the stage and when I perform it brings more viewers.
‘At the end of the day, when I get in that ring with Thomas Essomba, it’s me and him. I love my brother dearly and I’ve forgiven my brother for going against me already.’
Charlie is used to Sunny (pictured) trying to get under his skin, but claims he holds no hard feelings towards his younger brother
Charlie wants to get his career firmly back on track after battling a number of issues outside of the ring that has led to him fighting only four times since 2020.
Redemption is the buzz word in boxing right now, with Anthony Joshua already eyeing a return to the ring after being dispatched inside five rounds by Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night.
Edwards knows both fighters well, having previously roomed with Joshua during their amateur days with Team GB, while he sparred Dubois when they were teenagers, despite the heavyweight champion now being more than twice his weight.
Joshua has vowed to continue fighting in the wake of his devastating defeat, and Charlie has backed him to make a successful comeback, as long as he is doing it for the right reasons.
‘I’ve got a lot of time for Anthony and he’s been there and I had conversations with him through my dark times and he’s actually a very good friend,’ Charlie explained. ‘It’s heavyweight boxing. Daniel Dubois is a real monster.
‘It was sad to see Anthony Joshua, what happened. He’s taken British boxing to a whole new level. I hold a lot of love and respect to him, and I hope the British public do to.
‘It could be a passing of the torch moment. I just feel it was a bad start and I don’t know what the gameplan was. He didn’t come out correct, in my opinion, and his hands were low from the off. He was jabbing with his chin in the air. They’re bad habits that are formed somewhere.
‘He seemed at peace with what happened and he probably understands that now it’s his time to go to a new level. He’s still the biggest name in British boxing and there’s still going to be big names for him out there.
Charlie watched his former GB team-mate Anthony Joshua lose to Daniel Dubois on Saturday
Joshua has insisted he will not be retiring, and Charlie has backed him to get back to the top
Charlie has called for Joshua to face Dillian Whyte – who he beat in 2015 – next, rather than taking on Dubois in an immediate rematch
‘I hope he just rests, recovers, reassesses and then makes his mind up. But ultimately, I hope that he does it for himself and he’s not trying to please anyone else.’
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has named a three-man shortlist of Dubois, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder as potential options for Joshua to fight next.
But Charlie has urged the two-time heavyweight champion to steer clear of a rematch with Dubois for now, and has thrown another name into the mix in Dillian Whyte, who Joshua beat in a thrilling grudge match back in 2015.
‘If I was advising him, I would go for someone like Dillian Whyte as a comeback fight,’ Charlie said.
‘Dillian Whyte’s a great fighter. They’ve had history, they’ve had beef, it will sell and it would make a great match-up. That would be the perfect fight to make.
‘Dillian’s back on the scene and he’s hungry for a fight and he’s always wanted the AJ fight again so I think that’s the one I would advise him to go for next.
‘I wouldn’t advise him to go straight back into the rematch with Dubois. Not off the back of that. Rebuild a little bit and aim your sights on Dubois, then get the opponents right for Dubois, and then get your revenge. He can definitely beat Dubois, it was just a really poor start.’
Watch Essomba vs Edwards, live and free on Channel 5 on Friday night.
