Overachiever Chris Edwards, probably the best fighter in the word with a break-even record (13 wins, 13 losses, three draws), defends his British flyweight title on the big Bolton show on Friday and faces a tough night against Shinny Bayaar, a Mongolian who has just received his British naturalisation.

Promoter Frank Maloney is hoping to secure Edwards a European title opportunity, but getting past Bayaar will not be easy.

The oddsmakers have this as a pick ’em fight, and it is difficult to pick a winner.

Edwards has lost only one of his last eight bouts, on points to the much taller, classier Andy Bell. In his last two bouts, against far less seasoned opponents, Edwards overwhelmed Wayne Bloy in four rounds and then pounded out a one-sided decision over the spirited but physically overmatched Usman Ahmed.

Bayaar, 32, comes from the harsh background one would expect. His early record might be incomplete, but when he was just starting out as a professional he was thrown in with the vastly more experienced Manny Melchor in a 12-round bout in the Philippines, a bout that Bayaar not surprisingly lost on points.

Although Bayaar lost two of his first four fights in the U.K. he started winning consistently once he had settled into his new surroundings in Oldham and his only loss in his last 12 bouts was on points to the bigger, taller Martin Power, who was unbeaten and boxing really well at the time. Bayaar was clearly beaten, but he came in as a late substitute against a boxer who went on to win the British bantamweight title in his next bout.

Bayaar, a southpaw, is known to be a tough, aggressive fighter, on the lines of another Oldham-based Mongolian, Choi Tseveenpurev, who caused a surprise when ending the unbeaten run of Derry Matthews with a crushing KO victory 18 months ago.

Bayaar’s biggest win was his third-round stoppage over the two-time Canadian Olympic representative Andrew Singh Kooner, whom he dropped with a big right hook from his southpaw stance.

Another good win for Bayaar was a first-round stoppage over Reidar Walstad, the former international-level amateur who later went the full 12 rounds with Bernard Dunne in a European 122-pound title bout. Bayaar stopped Walstad due to a cut eye, but I am told that he rocked the Norwegian and dominated the brief encounter.

Friday’s fight is a huge opportunity for Bayaar after years of labouring in comparative obscurity, but Edwards also came up the hard way and he will fight desperately hard to hang on to his title.

Edwards isn’t what you could call a skilled boxer but he is very strong and well-conditioned and he keeps right on top his opponents, boring in from behind a high guard and banging away with short-armed punches on the inside. Bayaar also seems to be essentially an attacking fighter, so the chances are that this fight will be a bruising affair.

Bayaar has shown a tendency to cut around the eyes, which worries me a little. In British title fights, British Boxing Board of Control rules are followed, which means that if a boxer is cut too badly to continue, he loses — even if the cut came from a clash of heads. With an orthodox fighter meeting a southpaw, both men known for going right at their opponents, collisions seem inevitable in this fight and one hopes there will not be a disappointing and disputed ending to what looks like being a cracking good contest.

I am swaying Bayaar’s way here. He is essentially the local fighter and he showed he can fight 10 rounds at fast pace when he outpointed a strong, muscled Spaniard named Jordi Gallart, who seems to be very much a boxer in the Chris Edwards mould. Barring cuts, the fight looks sure to go the distance, and I’m going with Bayaar to eke out a close win by decision — there is little to choose between the fighters but Bayaar might be that bit more talented.