British boxer Charlie Edwards was booed by the crowd and labelled a ‘disgrace’ by viewers after ‘running around the ring’ in his title fight against Andrew Cain.
Edwards’ took his hit and move tactics perhaps a little far in their 12-round contest in Liverpool on Saturday night.
From the third round, the former WBC flyweight champion danced away from his opponent, backing off to the ropes to avoid being hit and seemed reluctant to throw shots of his own. The Londoner also stopped to showboat, holding his hands behind his back and inviting his opponent to come forward.
Edwards continued to relentlessly circle the ring in the fourth and fifth rounds much to Cain’s frustration in an ugly watch with boos coming down from the bemused crowd.
Jeers continued to come with the house DJ, responsible for blasting tunes in between rounds, even joining in on the fun.
Following the 10th round, ‘Runnin’ by Naughty Boy blared out followed by the Chase and Status track of the same name after the 11th.
Edwards believed his unpopular tactics were enough to get the win, celebrating with his team after the final bell.
But much to the delight of practically everyone inside the M&S Bank Arena, Cain was declared the winner via split decision, taking the British and Commonwealth bantamweight titles.
Former world champion Carl Frampton scored the fight a draw but was happy to see Cain get the decision after watching Edwards’ antics.
‘I actually scored it a draw,’ he told TNT Sports.
‘At a stage in the fight I thought Andrew Cain was going to start running away with it. There was one guy trying to fight tonight and that was Andrew Cain. Although I scored it a draw, I’m kind of glad [Cain won] and he deserves it.’
Frampton also suggested Edwards may now find it difficult securing his next fight given how unpopular his tactics were.
‘With that style Charlie Edwards imposed tonight, it is going to be difficult to get him a fight. Nobody wants to watch that.
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‘I get it, I understand tactically that is what they thought would give him the best chance of winning the fight but there is running and there is running and I think that was maybe a bit too much.’
Boxing fans on social media were also far from impressed with one fan describing it as ‘without a doubt one of the worst fights I have ever seen’
Another wrote: ‘I think I’d genuinely have been done with the sport if they rewarded that Charlie Edwards performance with a win.’
‘Edwards was a disgrace, absolutely shocking from a pro boxer. Shouldn’t be getting paid,’ another lamented.
