Peter McGrail Hands Rhys Edwards First Professional Loss in Riyadh

Peter McGrail defeated Rhys Edwards by points decision in their super-featherweight contest in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking Edwards’ initial professional career loss. The bout took place on the undercard of the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. Edwards, a 24-year-old Welshman, accepted the fight with only four days’ notice. His participation followed Dennis McCann’s withdrawal due to an adverse finding from a drugs test, which left McGrail without an opponent. McGrail, 28, from Everton, secured a unanimous decision victory over Edwards across 10 intense rounds. This occurred despite McGrail sustaining a cut above his right eye from an accidental head clash in the third round. The judges’ scores were 96-95, 96-94, and 96-94, improving McGrail’s professional record to 11-1 (6 KOs). “I rate Rhys highly, I knew I was in for a good, tough fight tonight,” McGrail told The Stomping Ground after the bout. “That’s what I got but I got the job done. People have probably underestimated Rhys but… he’s given me things to work on.” Edwards, a Tonypandy fighter trained by former WBU world middleweight champion Gary Lockett, had been preparing for a mid-January fight against Leon Woodstock. Despite the defeat, which ended his undefeated streak and brought his record to 16-1 (6 KOs), Edwards’ performance was noted as impressive. “It was a well-matched fight and big respect to Peter, he’s quality, but now I’ve showed my level, showed where I belong and I can perform on the biggest stages,” Edwards said, also speaking to The Stomping Ground. “It’s the biggest platform I’ve ever boxed on – on the undercard of Usyk v Fury – it’s a pinch myself moment. I’ve loved everything this week, bit gutted I didn’t get the win but I’m proud of myself, proud of my performance.” Having accepted the fight on short notice, Edwards stated he would “definitely be interested” in a rematch with McGrail, though he also expressed readiness to compete against any opponent in his next fight.