South Africa’s Nqothole (22-3, 13 KOs) produced an impressive display to outpoint Edwards (21-3, 7 KOs) over 12 rounds. The scores were 116-113, 116-112 and 117-111.

Nqothole’s win moved him into position to fight the winner of the 12-round title bout between IBF 115-pound champ Willibaldo Garcia and mandatory challenger Andrew Moloney on June 6 in Tokoname, Japan.

Edwards, a former WBC flyweight champion, told The Ring last week that sifting through the wreckage of a tame March 2025 loss to Andrew Cain made him realize that he had been neglecting his own qualities and giving too much respect to his opponents. Rather than grabbing this fight by the scruff of the neck, the 33-year-old Edwards allowed Nqothole to get off to a solid start.

Although both fighters spent the first two rounds trying to establish their jabs, it was Nqothole’s extra speed and ability to make Edwards fall short that gave him the edge.

Growing in confidence, Nqothole got more adventurous in the third. He found Edwards with a pair of right hands, the second of which momentarily stiffened the Epsom man’s legs. Although he kept his composure, Edwards chose to move rather than fire back – a clear sign that he had been hurt.

Nqothole’s only previous venture into world class ended in 10-round decision loss to Mexico’s Rene Calixto, but the 31-year-old looked cool and calm and boxed with a real flow. Clearly holding an edge in power, his accurate right hand marked up Edwards’ left eye and mixed his attacks up well to head and body.

Edwards tried to box with more authority in the sixth and a slight increase in tempo and aggression shook Nqothole out of his comfort zone slightly. The South African found his rhythm again in the seventh, though, and he scored with a nice short right hand.

Edwards had to work hard for his successes and couldn’t string his attacks together, but Nqothole’s output did begin to drop and Edwards enjoyed his best round of the fight in the 10th, as he targeted the body with a well picked left hook.

Looking more confident, Edwards took the 11th to give himself hope going into the final session, but Nqothole didn’t tighten up or run and he managed to box his way to the final bell.

Junior Middleweight: Dan Toward (8-1-1, 6 KOs) and Jack Corrie (9-0-1, 6 KOs) boxed to a 10-round split draw.

Super middleweight: Ollie Cooper (13-0, 3 KOs) def. James Osborne (13-2, 3 KO’s) by 8th-round stoppage.

Featherweight: Tom Welland (10-1, 5 KOs) def. Saleh Kassim (14-6-2, 7 KOs) by 10-round decision.

Cruiserweight: Lucas Roehrig (9-0, 5 KOs) def. Faton Tolaj (7-3, 5 KOs) by 2nd-round stoppage.

Super middleweight: Jonathan Kumoteo (5-0, 1 KO) def. Jose Aguirre (2-26, 1 KO) by 4-round decision.

Middleweight: Sultan Babakhanov (4-0, 3 KOs) def. Luis Enrique Montelongo Morales (18-19, 4 KOs) by 6-round decision.

Junior Middleweight: Eugene McKeever (3-0, 1 KO) def. Artem Liashevych (4-11-2) by 4-round decision.