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    COLUMN: Jayson Mama dealt a low blow by Edwards pullout

    Mama is in London supposedly for a world title shot in three days' time. Then he was not over a sudden 'injury.' Ouch
    Sep 8, 2021
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - Five years and six months after turning pro, the moment to shine on his sport's brightest stage was about to come for 24-year old Jayson Mama.

    In three days, the No.3-ranked contender was set to fight defending champion and hometown hero Sunny Edwards for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight championship at the Copper Box Arena in London.

    After a long and winding trip that the pandemic rerouted via Dubai, Jayson and his team arrived in the United Kingdom yesterday. And he immediately got punched in the gut.

    His title scrap has been scrapped.

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    International promoter Sean Gibbons helped arrange Mama's chance of a lifetime. All that effort and hard work went down in a blaze of infamy when Gibbons, also the president of Manny Pacquiao Promotions, received an email that the slugfest was off.

    The 25-year old Edwards (16-0, 4 KOs) had to back out.

    Ankle injury, said the Brit's promoter.

    Gibbons, a boxing lifer who can smell something fishy a mile away, insists it's "B.S." and told me he suspects Edwards "was having weight problems" and isn't buying this tall tale about an alleged broken body part.

    Same here.

    Look, you don't have to be a genius to be skeptical of a boxer who injures an ankle on championship fight week where the activities are meager and measured.

    Boxing folks aren't always accused of being the sharpest knives in the kitchen but I refuse to believe that Edwards' team can be this dull to allow such "mishap" to take place.

    This is looking like an incident, not an accident.

    Wink, wink.

    IT'S PROBABLY NOT AN ANKLE ISSUE. MORE LIKE COLD FEET.

    Mama, who sports a 16-0 record with 9 knockouts, told Spin.ph that Edwards is scared. "I'm too risky for him," he says.

    Mama shed a lot of blood and sweat at the SanMan gym in his native General Santos to prepare for this fight. He also spent 12 days in the steamy United Arab Emirates for more training with coach Ronerex Dalut, watching film, and monitoring his 115-pound weight.

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    No word yet on a next date but Mama's manager, Jim Claude Manangquil, is intent on pursuing his ward's deprived challenge.

    "Who suffers an ankle injury during fight week while you do light training? No matter what Sunny Edwards does he has to deal with his mandatory challenger Jayson Mama or he can vacate his belt," J.C. said.

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      Gibbons had been to the rodeo so many times to understand that these things happen in the shady world of combat fighting. But the past experiences haven't steeled him enough to feel less sorry for Mama.

      "I am just gutted for Jayson. He did everything he was supposed to do. Under these terrible Covid-19 conditions he had to jump through hoops to get to England and when he lands he is told Sunny Edwards has turned an ankle!!!"

      It really is a tough break.

      Or, in Edward's case, an ill-timed, suspicious sprain.

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