Nick Parkinson

Charlie Edwards is weaving his way through British holidaymakers in Spain still on a night out during his early morning runs.

Edwards, 23, insists he never has a longing to experience the nightlife on offer himself where he trains in Marbella ahead of his first world title shot on September 10.

The Briton is fiercely ambitious, which explains why he has taken a shot at global glory in only his ninth professional fight.

But Edwards (8-0, 3 KOs) believes challenging IBF flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (22-3, 14 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London is only the first step towards making him one of his country’s biggest boxing stars.

“In the early runs along the beach I see people still on sessions and I think what sort of a life is that,” Edwards told ESPN. “I know they are on holiday but it’s not the sort of life I want. I would rather be doing these runs and bettering my life.

“I moved out here to Marbella in March and have been living on and off here since September.

“The weather is nice and that helps motivate you to do your training. The gym out here is brilliant, it’s got all I need, and it’s close to where I live. All the stress is taken away from me and there are no distractions. I can relax in the sun after training at the gym and I’m loving the life out here.”

Edwards, who fights on the undercard to Gennady Golovkin’s world middleweight titles defence against Briton Kell Brook, boldly believes he can emulate the success of former flyweight and Casimero’s fellow Filipino Manny Pacquaio, who won world titles in eight weight divisions.

Edwards is even talking about a possible world title unification showdown with Nicaragua’s Roman Gonzalez (45-0, 38 KOs), who defends his WBC title also on September 10 against Carlos Cuadras (35-0-1) at the Forum in California. Gonzalez is No 1 in ESPN’s flyweight and pound-for-pound rankings, but that does not dissuade Edwards.

“The money and big fights are there for me with people like Gonzalez in the division,” Edwards said. “But it’s not all about the money for me. Look at the likes of Manny Pacquiao who moved up through the weights and I would love to win world titles at a few weights. Pacquiao was the same height as me and started at flyweight. I’m a big flyweight and I’m not going to be staying at flyweight for a long time.

“If I win this world title I’m not going to be waiting around for a long time. I’m big for flyweight and I want to move up so I want to fight the best people like Gonzalez. He’s fighting on the same night as me and after I win the IBF title I will call it because I want the unification fights. Gonzalez is the pound for pound king without a shadow of doubt, but I want the big fights and I want to be a boxing great.”