Life, Boxing, and Setbacks: A Glimpse into the Life and Career of Edner Cherry
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By Hector Franco | Senior Writer and Editor
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Published: September 28, 2019
The sound of punches hitting the heavy bag surrounded by the smell of sweat usually illuminates the St. Pete Boxing Club in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
On this day a surprise party was set up to celebrate the life and career of Edner âCherry Bombâ Cherry (37-7-2, 19 KOs).
The world of boxing is often glamorized as a sport full of rich athletes. Boxing, like many other sports, isnât black and white, but shades of grey.
Rarely does anyone escape the sport rich and undefeated, many leave the sport having left a piece of themselves behind.
For Edner Cherry, boxing was an escape and opportunity to better his life and the life of his family.
âWhen we first came here to the United States from the Bahamas, my mom and dad picked and picked,â Cherry stated in an exclusive interview with Frontproof Media. âTheyâre farmworkers. They worked in orange groves and this and that.
"By watching them and them taking us to the orange field every Saturday, looking at that I thought, I donât want this, and I donât want this for my family, I donât want this for me.
"Iâve been working in the fields since I came here since I was 11-years old. I worked in the fields until I was 18-years old. I had to experience that. I had to live and go out there and work. Thatâs why I kept boxing back then. It was something that could be life-changing.â
Sometimes it comes as a surprise to many boxing fans that for some boxers, boxing is not their favorite sport.
Cherryâs first influence in boxing came by way of former unified Welterweight champion Keith Thurmanâs former trainer Ben Getty who passed away in 2009.
âBoxing wasnât my favorite sport, but it was something I wanted to do,â said Cherry. âWhen I started boxing, my favorite fighter was Evander Holyfield because when I was coming up, they would call me âLittle Holyfield.â
"The first person to call me âLittle Holyfieldâ was Ben Getty. He always called me that, and from there, I started watching Evander Holyfield because he fought everybody, and he worked hard, and thatâs why I put 100% in everything I do.â
The St. Pete Boxing Club is well known for producing great fighters such as Jeff âLeft Hookâ Lacy, Ronald âWinkyâ Wright and most recently Keith Thurman.
Working along with world champions was motivation for Cherry who always envisioned himself as a world champion. For him, there was no better place he could work on his craft to guide him towards his goal.
âJust walking into this gym, you know the fighters that came out of there like Jeff Lacy, Winky Wright, Keith Thurman, and all these other good boxers that came out here,â stated Cherry. âWhen youâre walking in here, your mindset is to become a world champion. I want my name in the book. I wanted to be just like them or better.
âThat was one of my dreams when I first came to join Dan. (Dan Birmingham, current trainer of Keith Thurman). I said I wanted to become a world champion because I knew he trained great fighters. He made champions. He molded them into champions. That was my game. Thatâs what I wanted, and itâs great to train around these champions and the atmosphere. It makes you work hard.â
At the beginning of Cherryâs career, he plied his trade in the Tampa Bay area fighting a vast majority of his bouts at the now-closed A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa.
The Bahamas native never had anything come easy in boxing. In Cherryâs first seven professional fights he won three fights, lost two close decisions, and had two draws.
As Cherryâs career progressed, he would participate in an IBF Lightweight title eliminator in 2005 against former title challenger Ricky Quiles. Cherry lost an extremely close decision.
After two more victories, Cherry traveled to El Paso, Texas to battle Mexicoâs Jose Armando Santa Cruz for the NABF Lightweight title. Once again even with scoring a knockdown on Santa Cruz in the third round, Cherry fell victim to another decision loss.
Boxing fans, in general, take for granted what having the right promoter or connections can do for a boxer. It can lead you in the direction of least resistance or a road full of land mines.
Cherry at times would come into the ring with a chip on his shoulder as fighters who may have been less talented, got more opportunities.
âItâs either I wasnât in the ring with the right people because they were with the right promoters, the big promoters that could easily pay their way to get them in these big fights and build their records,â said Cherry. âWith me I had to start from scratch. I had to fight everybody to make a name for myself. There was no handpicking fights. I had to fight anybody I could get.
âWhatever they presented to me, I had to say yes. If I said no, that was an opportunity that I had lost. Even when I got title fights, it wasnât in the right weight class. My first title fight was against Timothy Bradley. I had to move up to 140 pounds. He was making the first defense of his title when he fought me.â
In 2007, Cherry moved up in weight from the Lightweight division to take on Paulie Malignaggi in New York in a Super Lightweight bout. Malignaggi won via unanimous decision.
Afterward, Cherry responded with arguably the most significant victory of his career when he faced former two-time WBC Lightweight champion Stevie âLilâ But Badâ Johnston.
Cherry was able to score a 10th round knockout over Johnston who was far removed from his prime but still a formidable opponent. The bout with Cherry would be the last of Johnstonâs career.
Following his fight with Johnston, Cherry was given a world title opportunity against future Hall-of-Famer, Timothy Bradley.
Bradley was coming off his first title victory after traveling to the United Kingdom and winning a split decision over local favorite Junior Witter.
To fight Bradley, Cherry had to move up to the Super-Lightweight division. Against Bradley, Cherry fell short losing a wide unanimous decision.
With world title opportunities coming few and far between for Cherry, another setback against a world-class fighter can be devastating.
The added motivation that a fighterâs family can provide can be the difference in a fighter retiring or staying in the sport.
âEvery time I wake up, every morning, I see my kids because I see my parents because all they do is farm,â stated Cherry. âI donât want my kids to be like me. I want better for my kids. I want to provide for my kids. I want to provide for my wife.
âTheyâre the ones who keep me going. Thatâs why I was still boxing. Thatâs why I was still doing it even with the losses. I never give up. I want the world title. I want to make more money to take care of my family and kids; theyâre the ones who motivate me."
Following the defeat to Bradley, Cherry went on a ten-fight winning streak with only one bout declared a no contest. Cherry scored victories over world title contenders Vicente Escobedo and Luis Cruz.
The victory over Cruz was big for Cherry as he scored a ninth-round knockout on the undercard of Keith Thurmanâs title defense over Luis Collazo at the University of South Floridaâs Sundome. The bout was also televised live on ESPN and led to one more chance at becoming a world champion.
In October 2015, Cherry would get another title shot, but this time at his preferred weight-class in the Super Featherweight division (130).
Cherry would face off against Cidra, Puerto Ricoâs Jose âSniperâ Pedraza for the IBF Super Featherweight championship at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Pedraza was making the first defense of his title and seemed next in line as the next great champion from Puerto Rico.
Cherry had other plans in mind against Pedraza as he seemingly outworked and out-landed the Puerto Rican over twelve rounds.
When the final bell signaled the end of the match, many fans in attendance and those watching the live broadcast thought Cherry had done more than enough to be awarded the world title.
The judges, however, saw a completely different fight as two of the three judges scored the bout 117-111 in favor of Pedraza and one judge scoring the match for Cherry with a score of 116-112.
The split decision defeat to Pedraza was seen as a terrible decision to a vast majority of the boxing community. Many fans and pundits called for an immediate rematch between Cherry and Pedraza; however, one never took place.
Over the next three years, Cherry fought just once each year winning unanimous decisions over Haskell Rhodes, Omar Douglas, and Dennis Galarza.
The bout with Galarza took place on April 2018 and unfortunately would be the final bout of Cherryâs career.
Earlier this year, Cherry was getting ready to face off against Ricardo Nunez with the winner set to take on then WBA Super Featherweight champion, Gervonta Davis.
The events leading up to the bout with Nunez would change Cherryâs life and career for the rest of his life.
âI was getting ready for a fight with Ricardo Nunez who fought Gervonta Davis and was knocked out,â said Cherry. âI was getting ready for that fight I was two weeks out. When youâre in the last two weeks, that last week you want to do everything. During that week, my wife noticed signs. I would come home from the gym and complain about my shoulder. I would be tired.
âThen, on the day it happened, I told her that I wasnât feeling well, but I still went on to work out because this was a big fight. When you have a big fight, it doesnât matter. You might feel sick, but you push on.
âMy heart just stopped after my workout. My heart stopped for three minutes. I died. There was a nurse there at the gym at Anytime Fitness, and as soon as it happened, she did CPR until the paramedics came. I had to get airlifted to Tampa General. I died for three minutes. Thatâs like a whole round in the ring.â
It was almost prophetic for Cherry to have his heart stop for three minutes. There is always a level of the unknown and uncertainty when one-steps inside the squared circle. One punch can change a fight entirely.
Cherry and his doctors were unsure of what may have caused his heart to stop.
âIâm a boxer that used natural stuff,â stated Cherry. I wasnât using whatever other boxers were using. My wife brought all our supplements to the hospital and let the doctor check them, but nothing in there caused it.
âI had two blockages, but they said it wasnât enough for it stop my heart. They put two stents in, and to this day, we left the hospital knowing nothing. Thatâs scary when you leave the hospital and don't know anything about whatâs going on. It may happen again.
âThey said, since we donât know, weâre going to put in a defibrillator for you in case it happens again. It will shock your heart, and thatâs scary. The doctor told me I would know when it will go off because I will start feeling nauseous, Iâll start feeling sick, and thatâs when it will kick in.â
At 37 years of age, Cherryâs professional boxing career would come to an end.
In an era where there are multiple champions in each weight class, itâs easy for fans and pundits to dismiss todayâs boxers as lesser than when they donât win world titles.
When boxerâs step inside the ring, they are putting their lives on the line. Moreover, the circumstances outside the ring can impact the direction a fighter heads.
From 2001 to 2018, boxing was a part of almost every facet of Cherryâs life.
For Cherry, the lessons learned from the sport are something that he intends to implement in his future.
âThatâs something I donât want to stop doing,â said Cherry. âThe physical part is done, itâs done with. I would love to have the opportunity to give a kid a chance, even if they donât become a boxer. But it would show them to be a man in life, to be that woman in life, and how to protect themselves.â
Despite never winning a world title, Cherry hangs his gloves up walking away from the sport without any regrets. The new battle for Cherry will be what happens from this point forward.
âNo regrets, I think I had a great career,â said Cherry. The only thing that didnât come with it was the money part. After that, no regrets, everybody might think Iâm crazy, but this was the best thing to happen to me.
âWhat it did, it brought me closer to my family. It brought my walk with God closer. It made me treat people better, love people more because tomorrow is not promised. We can leave the house, and we could never make it back home. Itâs crazy to see what people go through in life, whatever situation they go through, they still donât respect life and themselves. For me, I respect it, and I respect life 100%.â
All boxers at any level, deserve respect and admiration. Words like âbumâ and âtomato canâ have been used to describe fighters be people who have never stepped inside the ring.
Cherry wonât be fighting in the ring anymore, but his fight isnât over. Edner Cherry will do what he has always done, and thatâs to keep fighting.
âI just want to thank you all for everything,â Cherry stated as a message to all of his fans. âWith this medical issue, my heart stopped; now, I canât continue my boxing career anymore. I just want to thank you all for every second, for every opportunity you have all given me.
âI thank you all for your support 100%, and I just want to thank you all for being there, my family and my fans. The people around the world, every time they see me, they give me a word of encouragement. That just makes me work harder. You all wonât see me in the ring anymore. Iâm sorry. Itâs something we had to do. We had to call it quits. Thatâs a decision we had to make. I want to thank you all for all your prayers and everything.â
(Featured Photo: Premier Boxing Champions)
