in 2004, edwards fought three times and scored a third victory over neil read to this time pick up the vacant midlands area super bantamweight title, the first professional title of his career. at the time of the contest for the belt read had a combined record of 3-20-1 against edwards 5-9-2. the contest which took place during september at the kings hall saw edwards claim victory via technical knockout in the second round. further results during the year saw a draw against old foe delroy spencer in april and a defeat to future british title challenger colin moffett in october.