Sunny Edwards turned his attention to unifying the flyweight division after the British fighter retained his IBF world title with a comfortable points win over Muhammad Waseem in Dubai on Saturday night, while American Regis Prograis earned a shot at the WBC's super-lightweight world title.
Edwards defeated Pakistan’s Waseem after 12 rounds with scores of 115-111, 116-110 and 115-110 from the ringside judges. In the preceding fight at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Prograis beat Tyrone McKenna in their title eliminator after the fight was stopped in the sixth round due to a nasty cut above the Irishman's eye.
Waseem, who was bidding to become his country’s first ever world champion, tried to make the fight a war of attrition but he was deducted points in rounds six and seven.
Edwards described his opponent as “world class” but felt he was a clear winner and after the victory, repeated his desire to face Mexico's WBC champion Julio Cesar Martinez next in the biggest fight that can be made in the 115lbs division.
“Muhammad is a world class operator and he and his team came with a good game plan,” said Edwards, who extended his unbeaten professional record to 18 fights. “There was a lot on the line tonight but I didn’t want to just run, run, run, I wanted to mix it up and I felt I won comfortably in the end.
“I now want the Ring Magazine belt and the WBC title, and I know Martinez wants the fight so let’s make it happen. It will be huge.”
Waseem, who’s record now reads 12-2, accepted that Edwards deserved to keep his IBF belt but he was unhappy with the referee for taking points off him.
“Congratulations to Sunny tonight, he was the better man,” said Waseem. “I felt it was very unfair of the referee to take points off me, I don’t know why he did it – this is a fight.”
Prograis will have the chance to become a two-time world champion after coming through a WBC world title eliminator against McKenna.
The American, whose only professional loss came against Josh Taylor in a unified championship bout in October 2019, floored his Irish opponent in the second round and was ahead on the scorecards by the time the bout was stopped in the sixth with blood pouring from above the eye of McKenna.
“He’s a tough man, I knew he was going to be tough and when I knocked him down, I knew he was going to get up,” Prograis, now 27-1, said. “But I stayed calm. He kept pushing forward and so I had to change my game plan and box more. I’ve been world champion before and I will be world champion again.”
A valiant McKenna, despite his pre-fight claims, admitted Prograis carried serious power.
“He’s world class, he’s heavy handed and he’s probably the hardest puncher I’ve ever been in with. He’s got massive power,” he said.
Probellum President Richard Schaefer was at ringside in Dubai and said: “That was an unbelievable show from Regis Prograis. In my opinion he is a top 10 pound for pound fighter, he is one of the best fighters in the world. And Tyrone McKenna has to be one of the toughest fighters I have ever seen.”
Prograis put McKenna on his back at the start of round two with booming overhand left but the Irishman, who says he loves going to war in the ring, was smiling at his rival as he lay on the canvas.
Blood started to run from the side of McKenna’s head as former world champion Prograis took a firm hold of the final eliminator at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
The ringside doctor inspected McKenna at the end of the session and allowed him to continue and the ‘Mighty Celt’ whipped up his fans at ringside by attempting to mount a fightback.
Prograis remained in command but McKenna refused to be beaten and enjoyed success in the fifth round as the American’s pace dropped.
However, a nasty cut above McKenna’s right eye opened up and forced the referee to call on the doctor to take a look. After an inspection, it was ruled that the brave McKenna was in no condition to continue and Prograis had his arm raised.
Prograis then proceeded to call out Jack Catterall, who was ringside for the event. Catterall earlier this month fought Taylor for the undisputed super-lightweight world titles and lost a controversial split decision.
"I wanna get Jack Catterall in the ring, he called me out last night," Prograis said during his post-fight interview. "He's right there [ringside], Jack said he wanted to fight me so I wanna get him in the ring."
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Scoreline
Germany 2
Werner 9', Sane 19'
Netherlands 2
Promes 85', Van Dijk 90'
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh960,000
Engine 3.9L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Power 661hp @8,000rpm
Torque 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.4L / 100k
