Charlie Edwards relaunched his career by easing to a unanimous decision victory over Georges Ory at London’s York Hall.

Edward, 31, was fighting for the first time at bantamweight and since becoming self-managed, appointing Stephen Smith as his new trainer and agreeing to promotional terms with Wasserman.

If he is to succeed in his ambition of returning to the highest level, Edwards will have to confront stronger opponents than Ory, France’s former European champion. But after five years of relative inactivity, Edwards will regardless recognize the value of recording 10 rounds in the process of earning three scores of 98-92.

Edwards’ size advantage was noticeable in the moments before the opening bell, and in the moments after it he quickly established his authoritative and consistent jab – and soon after that, his strong right hand.

As early as the second round, Ory, 32, appeared short of ambition, at least based on the way Edwards built on his success in the first by landing a right and then a right-left to his body and followed by doing so with two right uppercuts before Ory ever responded via two left hands.

The right uppercut continued to deliver for Edwards, who had fought only three times since losing his flyweight title in 2019. But in the third, he became more reluctant to let his hands go and was briefly backed up by his opponent, who succeeded with a combination toward the round’s end.

Edwards responded with perhaps his finest round when, in the fourth, with accurate timing he landed four counter right hands and was again consistent and accurate with his jab. His brother Sunny Edwards, a former flyweight champion in his own right, could then be heard giving him instructions alongside Smith in Edwards’ corner before the start of the fifth.

With Edwards’ confidence enhanced by his increased success, he landed with further right uppercuts but hinted that he would prioritize 10 competitive rounds instead of the statement a stoppage could bring.

There were brief passages in which Ory threatened to outwork the favorite, but every time he did so, such as in the sixth, his aggression was punished – including on a left hook to the body, even if Ory then responded to Edwards’ showboating by landing a strong left hand.

It was in the 10th when Edwards, apparently fighting with a sense of relief instead of the emotion he had taken into the ring, resumed showboating with the confidence of a fighter who knew victory was imminent. He landed a left uppercut, took a strong left hand in response and then landed another right while shuffling his feet and providing a reminder as to why, as a superior fighter to those typically seen on British terrestrial television, his appearance there potentially represented a coup to him as much as to Wasserman and Channel 5.

Tom Welland, 19, later recorded his fourth victory as a professional, over eight entertaining rounds at super bantamweight, against 33-year-old Nicaraguan Marvin Solano.