Prince Patel Doubts Sunny Edwards Can Become A Star

I remember going into the third year and I was like, look, if I don't get out of London this year, that like, it's done

Like, well, me, my coach at the time made the decision to go with Frank Warren. Probably not the right decision

I probably should have stayed maybe on the small hall circuits and built up, fighting regularly selling tickets

Personally, with the Frank Warren situation, I believe I didn't do anything wrong

I believe I was signed, in my opinion, to be a controversial person

I want to be on TV. I believe someone like me deserves. serves to be on TV. Something big's happening in September. I'll beat you in every, I'll beat

near enough everyone that's been in front of me. And I'm not just beating them. I'll stop

them as well. This is Brown from No Smoke Sport, here for episode four of Passion the Punch. So far, this

series, we've had Craig Richards. We've had Echo Esseman. We had Billy Dib recently. And now

delighted to be joined by Prince Pateau himself. How you doing, Prince? I'm all good things

judging by the guests you've had already I mean good I'm in good company

to be in these sorts of fighters Yeah you're in very good company mate

We've been very blessed on this series And yeah we're delighted to be joined by you now

On this series of interviews We like to take fighters back Right back to the start really

What got them into boxing What were their inspirations So yeah if we could mate

What's taking you right back to sort of maybe your childhood. Were you interested in boxing from an early age

Not so much really, to be honest. I was more into wrestling. I liked at the time it was

WWF. I liked WCW. I liked all that sorts of stuff. And then also I like to play football like

most kids did. It wasn't as good at football as I am at boxing. The way I look at it is if you

ain't the best in your school, you're not going to be the best in the borough. And if you're not the best in the borough, you're not going to be in the city, and what's the chance of really making it then

So I just, I'm quite realistic with my goals and what I expect, my expectations

And I just felt like in football, I may not be big enough, strong enough

And then I see boxing on TV. I saw it as a weight group sports, so then I realized these guys would have to be the same size as me

And I just, I like the idea of it being a solo sport. So all the glory goes to you and you're to blame if you don't win

basically, and just pushed on with it, proceeded with it. So what was, like, obviously you said that was the impetus to get into boxing

but what was your first encounter with it? Did you start going along to a local gym and start sort of feeling out the pads and that

Literally that. I begged my mum for about, from summer holidays, year six going to year seven

and I really wanted to do boxing and that. She obviously, being from an Indian family, was just like

that's not going to happen. Like, I think of something else that you'd like to do as, like, a hobby

Because she didn't really, I probably think that when I was younger, didn't really expect any of her kids to be in sports

It's more like more academic sort of jobs, like lawyers, doctors, all that sort of things

And, yeah, I just kept pushing, kept bugging her. And then I remember she told me when I was younger that

I'm not going to let you do it because all you're going to do is basically get me to buy you a pair of gloves, get you to buy all this stuff and you're just going to end up quitting

So I remember saying that to me and there was a couple times like two months into it

I thought, you know, I'm not really enjoying this. It's quite not as fun as I thought

And I just mentally told myself, well, I have to continue because my mom said you'll quit after two months

So I just wanted to do a bit of stubbornness. because I'm quite a stubborn person, and then, yeah, I just pushed on with it

and then here I am today. When did it really start clicking into place

You know what? I'm not proud at this. I could do this

When did that start sort of sinking in? Well, the first two years in the schoolboys

I got to London final, losing to the eventual winner. But I just, I remember going into the third year

and I was like, look, if I don't get out of London this year, that like it's done like there's no point i'm not going to be in a sport where

i'm just losing to the guy who's the guide you know what i mean i want to be the guy

and then um that year i ended up winning it won three nations as well and i thought

that's like a sign from the big g up there and i thought yeah like just

push on a little bit and stuff like i do stuff like that like from time to time like

it looks like things ain't really going my way for a while i always go I need a sign, I need something to happen if something doesn't happen

and then normally something kind of big will happen and then okay so did you watch a lot of boxing at all when you started getting into it or

even before that? Truthfully I would only watch because I only had terrestrial TV back when I was young

like Channel 1 to 5 and sometimes they'd be boxing I think it was on the BBC or it was

channel 5 but it was like only small hall nothing famous or anything like that yeah and then

eventually couple years later my mom was forced to get like sky sports and that for us because

i just didn't like have to hear about the results from wrestling at school so i needed to watch it

myself and yeah that was the main reason for getting that it was literally for the wrestling and then

um i started watching i remember they used to do the sky sports um you know like the big shows from

America at like 2 a.m. Yeah. They would do them ones and I'll be watching them ones

And I remember ITV was, I think at the time was Frank Warren

And yeah, I used to try and watch it when I could

I wouldn't be as knowledgeable then as I am now. But I used to try and keep up to date

So there were no inspirations as such of watching it and thinking, you know what, I want to do this

It was more that from going into the gym and developing and their game Literally Yeah I would say literally that It was more the competitiveness of wanting to do sports It wasn like oh I watched Nassim Hammed and I wanted to be like him or anything like that

It was just more I wanted to be successful in a sport. Boxing for me was a weight group sport

It was in a ring just like wrestling was, but obviously slightly different

But like it was something that I felt like I could be good at

And then I just pushed on with it. As I started to watch it and stuff

I started becoming, I would say, fans and supporters of some of them

Like, I started boxing before Nassim had his last fight. But I would say whilst I was boxing

and I found out who he was, I become like a fan of his, if that makes sense

Yes. Floyd Mayweather as well, like, as soon as I started finding out who he was

I was just like, oh my God, this guy's like a Messiah to boxing

like he's amazing like i want to be just like this guy like that's how it was like

so i suppose you were taking watch him thinking what you could adapt and what you could

look at to sort of inspire you in terms of actually doing it rather than sort of thinking i want to do

that when i'm older kind of thing yeah it was more like i'd like the image of them i like guys who

talk i used to like pauliman an argy a lot because he was quite a talker back when he was a fighter

and i liked how i like people who stand out i like people who are different

and I try to bring that into my game as well. I like to be different as well

Yeah, yeah. And yeah, I mean, that brings me on to a little bit of sort of

obviously you've turned pro, you've had a few fights, and then you go on to what would probably be your best achievement so far

as winning the Commonwealth in 2019. Would you agree with that? 20-1, I won that

But, yeah, I would say that's my best achievement, probably, yeah. Okay, yeah, sorry, Ronde. but um yeah so i thought for the ibeo in 2019 ibeo in 2019 okay yeah ench you're only lost to date

um i believe yes so yeah you were picked up by frank warren um but you only did you only have one

fight under that deal in the end i had two no three three three under on his banner

That was like three fights in like 24 months. It just, like, as a young prospect who was trying to just be active and get himself out there, that to me isn't good enough

It was just like, to be honest, when I look at how my career when it started, it was like, I started with Steve Goodwin on small shows

I was managed by him at the time and I was fighting on this thing. I had a debut on his show, done my usual, bringing some character into boxing, done an interview

with Coogan Cassius. At the time, it got loads and loads of views

where people were like for a debutant to be spoken about this

that doesn't have an Olympic backing or anything like that. Like, it's really high numbers of people speaking about him

So I eventually, my coach at the time was messaging anyone to see if I could get on a bigger promotion

if that made sense. And I think you message Jason McClory. We got him with Frank Warren speaking

Steve was negotiating with Eddie Hearn. I then at the time made a decision

well, me, my coach at the time made the decision to go with Frank Warren. Probably not the right decision

I probably should have stayed maybe on the small hall circuits and built up, fighting regularly, selling tickets

But I didn't do that. I wanted to be on TV. I wanted to rush things if that made sense

Maybe because it wasn't right for me to be fighting on TV

TV at the time. Maybe I wasn't ready, but I was only fighting at once a year. That wasn't good

enough for me. I then was going to sign with, I then asked my contract back, giving it back

I then was going to sign with at the time, David Hay. He was doing Haymaker Ringstar with

Richard Schaefer. I was going to sign with him back in 2017. That then, through fault of my own

again. I sort of messed that up. And I then was trying to reach out to other people at the time

I was only like three and no kind of died down a little bit because I was told not to do many

interviews. So the hype around me was dying down. And then I just, no one was interested in me

I just had to do something on my own. You said there, obviously, about through fault of your own

Do you think it's because of things that you've said in public or do you think it's other things that maybe

Personally with the Frank Warren situation, I believe I didn't do anything wrong

I believe I was signed, in my opinion, to be a controversial person

I was signed to be someone who gets people talking just by what I say, if that made sense

whether it's something like that. It's a promotion game, isn't it? It is a self-promotion game. And the thing is, I believe as well, like, in my division, and this goes, being completely honest

I didn't really know any fighters below featherweight when I was growing up. And that's whilst I was in amateur boxing, winning national titles and stuff

I didn't know anyone below featherweight. I knew there was a weight below it, but I didn't know anyone who actually was

I think I remember Nanito Donner being an IBO world champion because he knocked out of Vic Darcinian

But other than that, really, all the guys that was on, Jemma Fight Night, the computer game

they had like a couple of fly weights or bantam weights in there

and that's the only two I really remember, but I never really knew anything until I turned pro

and then I had to really study the divisions that I was in. Does that make sense

Yeah, yeah. I just feel like you need to bring something different. Like, I feel like even in a movie

there's going to be a good guy and a bad guy. Even in theater, there's going to be good guys and bad guys

And I just feel if you can generate interest people are going to be interested in watching you Does makes sense Controperity creates cash And I just believe that I very good at playing the bad guy

I'm not saying I am the bad guy. I just feel like I'm good at playing it. Then the good guy

And I just feel like if I don't bring what I, like the extra camaraderie, let's say

would people even know who I am? Probably not. So let's take you back to that sort of moment as well where those kind of deals are going wrong

And you take yourself away from fighting in the UK for a number of years

You've only just returned recently. What led to that decision? I originally wanted to return in 2019

Around the time I fought for the IPO world title, I was supposed to actually do that in a small show in the UK

But then it somehow come across that I could do it in Saudi Arabia instead of the UK

So I just jumped at it, obviously, because it was a big show, Amé Khan's undercard

And I really thought at the time that was going to be my breakout fight. I was hoping to win that, then defend it in the UK, and then try and build off that

maybe try to unify, etc. Didn't work out for me. I tried to remain active

And when I was speaking to promoters, it was all like, it weren't what they can do for me

It was more what can I do for them. like how many tickets can I sell

How many this can I sell? And I was just thinking to myself, you know what? Let me just go do my own shit abroad

try and beat some guys that are of name, of caliber, like people who fought for world titles and stuff

And it just felt now back in 2020, it felt at the time it was the right time

But now we're in 2023, and that's when I made the return. Yeah. And is that it

Now, do you see yourself mainly fighting in the year? UK now? You're trying to get back to where you were and sort of those years under..

I want to be on TV. I believe someone like me deserves to be on TV, especially like on the weekend

There were three TV shows. There was a BT show. There was a Sky Sports show

And there was a Zone show. I don't see anyone on them cards that on the weekend that, in my opinion, with the

commercial push to generate the sort of buzz I can generate. I've already proved that lower weight guys can be spoken about

I've already proved that I generate loads of figures. I just believe that once I'm pushed to the general public

and the general public get to see this sort of face, that I'm going to be pushed to a higher level

And I believe my record sorts of speaks for itself. I'm not saying I've beaten amazing fighters or the very best out there

but I've beaten near enough everyone that's been in front of me. And I'm not just beating them

I'll stop them as well. yeah yeah okay so um a bit of a different question what would you have done had you

not gone into boxing do you think sorry about that got firstly um i would i would say uh

i get asked that question a lot and i do think about that a lot because sometimes i

think is the boxing working am i doing the right thing am i doing should i still be boxing and

stuff, but I don't actually know. Like, my brother and my sister, they got good, good paid jobs

They're, they're, they're very educated. One of them has two degrees and a PhD. And like, it's

I feel like I'm sort of like a let down to the family at the moment. But I feel like if I

wasn't boxing now, probably because I've wasted too much time in boxing, I don't know. I'd probably

try and go into like, I know it sounds like probably like corny, but I'd probably think like modelling or

movies or something like that. They've got to be proud of what you've accomplished so far though, surely

If I'm truthfully, like I would argue with people and say, look, I've done some stuff, I've achieved this

I've achieved that. Because at the time when I won them, they meant

everything to me if that made sense. But if I'm brutally honest, no, because if it's not a world title, it don't

count. I don't want to, I'm tired of going to my friends. Oh, I've won a continental title. I've won a

Commonwealth title. I've won this domestic. No, like, don't mean anything to me. I want world

titles. How do you get there then, Prince? What is the game plan? Is there stuff in the works

How do you get to where you want to be? There is stuff literally, as we speak right now

I'm hoping in the next week or so that it can definitely be like scheduled, approved

all that sorts of stuff and we will have a date in that. But the date, I just might as well say it

I'm aiming for about September for the big dance. That will be in the UK

And then before that, I feel, they didn't really feel myself when I last fought

I felt a bit rusty. plus my actual coach Sam Mullins hasn't actually done my corner

because that day he abandoned me to go to Lucy Wildhart's fight

against Michaela Mayer. So I've never actually had him in my corner

and I feel if I'm going into the big dance and I'm going for my childhood dream

and I'm looking to create history and become the first Indian world champion, I feel that I need to have a match beforehand

with Sam in my corner and I feel that I still need to shake off some ring rust

because I did have like a big gap from 2021 November all the way until April, 2023

Yeah. I might say through no fault of my own, but then really it's down to yourself to get things done

if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Do we anticipate that being against Isaac Lowe in September

No, Isaac. I don't think we'll get approved for a world title, being realist no disrespect to him And he isn ranked in any of the Doverning bodies Oh so you see the September 1 being for a wild title against somebody Oh yeah definitely definitely

Because I'm active again. I'm going to be pushed. I'm being lobbied in the rankings and stuff

And something big is happening in September. And then who knows, by the end of the year

if I do become world champion and Isaac gets himself maybe one or two wins

we can maybe fight for the world title. or if not I can come up a wait and then you can fight for it as a non-title fight

Okay. And if you, so if you had your time again, is there anything you would change in terms of what you've done so far

I mean, you've said about, but to a certain degree, it's your outspokenness that's got you

the people, the followers, the fans, and stuff like that. So is there anything you'd really want to change

I do feel when I was with Warren that that was part of the reason why that was part of the reason why

they didn't push me. I felt like it made perfect sense to get me the right opponent and push me

like they pushed other fighters because they did push other guys at the time who I didn't feel

deserved to get pushed, but they were still pushing them. And I just feel like they, like

nine times that ten people go like, it's business first. Like, let's just, I don't care if I

dislike this guy. I just want to make money. I feel that the people. that Frank had working for him in the office who were dictating the undercards and all that

sort of stuff they didn't particularly like me and it was like well you know what I'd rather make

no money than have Prince Patel on there than make some money and have Prince there does that make

sense yeah yeah and that was down completely shit and that's down to just genuine dislike to

someone if that makes sense yeah but to be honest I don't know maybe it was just a personality

I've always made it clear to people, like, involved in boxing. Like, it's never personal

Like, do you know what I mean? Like, it's always just a bit of a ban. It's always just a bit of a joke to me and stuff

Part of the game as well, isn't it, to be honest with you? I'm not going to say any names, but there's someone in my gym at the moment who isn't really speaking to me

because I made a joke about them in an interview. Now, I still hand on heart firmly believe that if you're in the sport of boxing and you're in show business

because that's what it is. It's a business first and it's a sport. second and it's an entertainment business first as we've seen with the misfits and stuff

like that because they're in exactly the best fighters in the world are they but they're fighting

in wembley arenas that are packed completely packed and i've been to one of their shows and the

energy out there like the crowd are enjoying what they're seeing they the energy they're bringing

is really good and they're there from the first fight to the last fight aren't they exactly that

because they're there for the show not just the fight where the box has to sell

the tickets himself. This is, in my opinion, I prefer this layout. It reminds me of a bit

like wrestling how you get like some squabbles inside the ring, some outside the rings and all

that someone randomly getting attacked. They're quite like all that rubbish, but it's like I just

feel like boxing, professional boxing especially, is missing the entertainment factor. And that's

why I truly do believe once I'm pushed by a TV promoter, I'm going to branch off and I'm not just going to

be like a star in boxing. I believe I become a star out of boxing with it

Well, I hope everything that's sort of being set out at the moment works out for you

And I hope you do get that well title shot. We wish you the luck for the rest of the year, Prince

And we really thank you for joining us on Passion the Punch. I appreciate that. But just to finish this off, I'm going to obviously finish it with certain

controversial. We don't want it any other way, Prince. Exactly, exactly. Like two guys that are currently linked to me normally is a Sunny Edwards

both Sunny Gollum Edwards and Isaac Slow, he dribbles a lot. If you're sitting at home and you think, well, you know what

You're a promoter, let's say maybe, or you're just the spectator. Do you really believe the story of Isaac Dribble or the story of Sunny Gollum Edwards

the guy who starred in Lord of the Rings, who was Gollum and Lord of the Rings

who now come into boxing, is a world champion in boxing, who has been pushed his whole career

same visor at low, do you really believe that these guys can branch off from boxing

to become like a star outside of boxing? Because in my opinion, to become like a pay-per-view star

you can't just be a big name in boxing. You have to be a big name, a household name sort of thing

in reality to become like a star to really make it in boxing. And if you look at both them guys

they're never going to be that sort of star. but if you look at me

every box is getting ticked there. Knockouts, looks, the demograph of a whole nation

of over a billion people watching, tuning in, just the way I speak, the energy and stuff

you don't get that from these guys. And that's why Sonny's a world champion will never be on a pay-per-view

as in him headlined in a pay-per-view, even though he's been pushed in all

his 19 fights. You will never get that. Isaac Lowe, who's been fighting on Tyson Fury undercards

He's been pushed his whole life, even though he hasn't deserved it, will never ever become a breakout star in boxing

Because no one's interested in a guy who can't read and write and dribbles

No one's interested in that. And has a hairline back there. Just saying, give me, give me a year

under a TV promoter and you'll see. we'll come back to this video because in a year's time

once I am world champion and I'm signed to a TV promoter and you're thinking well he was right he did say you'll become a superstar

we'll see I'll hold you sat and we'll add this interview this time next year

and let's hope that you've got that strap around here definitely I'm beltless right now yeah

thanks again for joining us Prince and like so we wish you the best luck the rest of the year

thanks next leap take care