In April of 2018 Edner Cherry beat Dennis Galarza to string together his third consecutive win. That win kept the 35-year-old Cherry's world title hopes alive. Cherry has routinely fought anyone put in front of him and had previously fought for a world title twice, losing both times, first to Timothy Bradley and then to Jose Pedraza. Those losses haven't deterred Cherry from his ultimate goal of becoming a world champion and while he waits for his next fight to be scheduled he took some time to talk with Big Time Boxing about his career and the sport.
Question: You're from the Bahamas, how popular would you say boxing is there and why hasn't the island produced more boxers the way Puerto Rico or Cuba has?
Answer: "Well, I would say it's not as big as it is in an area like Puerto Rico. You have champions
that came out of Puerto Rico like Miguel Cotto and (Felix) Trinidad and all these big names that help the popularity of boxing more there than in the Bahamas."
Q: Do you think winning your first world championship would help the popularity of boxing in the Bahamas?
A: "Oh yeah, definitely because it will cause people to think that they could become a champion or make them want to be a boxer. There's people over there right now that are boxing and when they look at who came from the Bahamas I could give them hope for them to be a champion too. When somebody becomes a champion it just motivates someones else to try and do it too."
Q: You've fought for a world title twice, fighting Timothy Bradley and Jose Pedraza. In your fight with Pedraza you out-landed him, and it's a fight many people thought you won. Do you think you won that fight and how do you think that win would have changed your career?
A: "I think I won that fight. I think a win would have put my name out there more. If I had that title, that win, it would have opened a lot of more doors for my career."
Q: You're fresh off a tough victory over Dennis Galarza in an exciting fight, what's next for you and who would you like to fight next?
A: "You know what, no names but whoever is put in front of me. Whoever they put in front of me I'll fight. I hope they don't put me on the back burner for awhile again. I hope I'm back in the ring soon and whoever they put in front of me I'm ready. I don't care who it is. Nowadays they let guys pick and choose who they fight. I want to get back to the days of just fighting. Some guys aren't really good fighters they've just had a lot of easy fights."
Q: You've put together 37 career victories, including wins over guys like Omar Douglas, Vicente Escobedo, and Monty Meza Clay. Is there one victory that you're the most proud of?
A: "I'm proud of all my wins. When they raise my hand I'm happy with every one of them. I'm proud of all my wins because of the way I go about winning. I have good training camps and work hard so I'm proud of all of them."
Q: One thing fans love to argue about is who the greatest fighter of all-time is. Who is your pick for the best to ever lace them up?
A: "You know what man, I would have to pick (Muhammad) Ali. I mean he's one of my favorite fighters because the type of fighter he is he will win the round or knock you out. I also have Evander Holyfield as one of the best fighters. He was one of the guys who could pack the house and he fought everybody. He was a small heavyweight but he still fought everybody."
Q: Another thing fans love to debate are fantasy match-ups. If you could fight any other fighter, active or retired, who would it be?
A: "I would have to say George Foreman or Ali. If weight or size wasn't an issue I'd want to fight all of those great heavyweight guys."
Q: There are a few names at the top of most people's pound-for-pound lists. Who would you consider to be the best fighter right now?
A: "If it doesn't matter what weight class I'd have to say Floyd Mayweather is the best. He had great technique and he was really smart. I would also say I like for pound-for-pound the light heavyweight Andre Ward, he's a really good fighter."
Q: Boxing is a sport that seems like it has always been riddled with problems. If you could change
anything about the sport what would it be?
A: "The scoring man, just the scoring. These days it's like whoever the name fighter is or who the hometown fighter is they get the benefit. If it's a close fight and you have the other guy winning just don't give it to the hometown guy. That's what I'd change the judging and the scoring."
Question: You're from the Bahamas, how popular would you say boxing is there and why hasn't the island produced more boxers the way Puerto Rico or Cuba has?
Answer: "Well, I would say it's not as big as it is in an area like Puerto Rico. You have champions
Q: Do you think winning your first world championship would help the popularity of boxing in the Bahamas?
A: "Oh yeah, definitely because it will cause people to think that they could become a champion or make them want to be a boxer. There's people over there right now that are boxing and when they look at who came from the Bahamas I could give them hope for them to be a champion too. When somebody becomes a champion it just motivates someones else to try and do it too."
Q: You've fought for a world title twice, fighting Timothy Bradley and Jose Pedraza. In your fight with Pedraza you out-landed him, and it's a fight many people thought you won. Do you think you won that fight and how do you think that win would have changed your career?
A: "I think I won that fight. I think a win would have put my name out there more. If I had that title, that win, it would have opened a lot of more doors for my career."
Q: You're fresh off a tough victory over Dennis Galarza in an exciting fight, what's next for you and who would you like to fight next?
A: "You know what, no names but whoever is put in front of me. Whoever they put in front of me I'll fight. I hope they don't put me on the back burner for awhile again. I hope I'm back in the ring soon and whoever they put in front of me I'm ready. I don't care who it is. Nowadays they let guys pick and choose who they fight. I want to get back to the days of just fighting. Some guys aren't really good fighters they've just had a lot of easy fights."
Q: You've put together 37 career victories, including wins over guys like Omar Douglas, Vicente Escobedo, and Monty Meza Clay. Is there one victory that you're the most proud of?
Q: One thing fans love to argue about is who the greatest fighter of all-time is. Who is your pick for the best to ever lace them up?
A: "You know what man, I would have to pick (Muhammad) Ali. I mean he's one of my favorite fighters because the type of fighter he is he will win the round or knock you out. I also have Evander Holyfield as one of the best fighters. He was one of the guys who could pack the house and he fought everybody. He was a small heavyweight but he still fought everybody."
Q: Another thing fans love to debate are fantasy match-ups. If you could fight any other fighter, active or retired, who would it be?
A: "I would have to say George Foreman or Ali. If weight or size wasn't an issue I'd want to fight all of those great heavyweight guys."
Q: There are a few names at the top of most people's pound-for-pound lists. Who would you consider to be the best fighter right now?
A: "If it doesn't matter what weight class I'd have to say Floyd Mayweather is the best. He had great technique and he was really smart. I would also say I like for pound-for-pound the light heavyweight Andre Ward, he's a really good fighter."Q: Boxing is a sport that seems like it has always been riddled with problems. If you could change
anything about the sport what would it be?
A: "The scoring man, just the scoring. These days it's like whoever the name fighter is or who the hometown fighter is they get the benefit. If it's a close fight and you have the other guy winning just don't give it to the hometown guy. That's what I'd change the judging and the scoring."
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