Sunny Edwards vs Muhammad Waseem, Regis Prograis vs Tyrone McKenna set for March 19th in Dubai

Turns out Julio Cesar Martinez’s super flyweight adventures won’t leave Sunny Edwards high and dry. MTK has announced that he’ll defend his IBF flyweight belt against former title challenger Muhammad Waseem on March 19th in Dubai.

This will be Edwards’ (17-0, 4 KO) second defense of his belt, which he took from Moruti Mthalane last April and defended with a wide decision over Jayson Mama eight months later.

“Falcon” Waseem (12-1, 8 KO) challenged for the vacant IBF title on the 2018 Pacquiao-Matthysse undercard, dropping Mthalane in the 11th but ultimately falling short on the cards. He’s largely puttered around the Middle Eastern scene since, most notably beating faded former titlist Ganigan Lopez and twice-failed title challenger Rober Barrera.

He’s “Showtime’s” second-highest-ranked challenger behind Ricardo Sandoval; I’m assuming Sandoval, who trucked Carlos Buitrago in December, wouldn’t be ready in time. It ain’t the most compelling matchup, but it’s still a clash of BoxRec top-10s and one of the better fights available to Edwards with his fellow titlists disinterested or indisposed.

The newly revealed co-feature pits former unified super lightweight champ Regis Prograis (26-1, 22 KO) against Tyrone McKenna (22-2-1, 6 KO). “Rougarou” saw a planned fight with Mikey Garcia go up in flames due to Sandor Martin’s upset, while McKenna is 6-1 since a loss to Jack Catterall, the only blemish a narrow decision against Ohara Davis in the MTK Golden Contract finals.