Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez fell to the canvas and wept in joy after a statement-making performance in a perceived pick-‘em fight.
The unbeaten San Antonio native brilliantly neutralized one of the sport’s defensive fighters in Sunny Edwards, whom he stopped after nine rounds. Rodriguez scored a knockdown in the closing seconds of the ninth and forced a corner stoppage in between rounds nine and ten to unify the IBF and WBO flyweight titles Saturday evening at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Rodriguez used his jab to minimize Edwards’ movement and set up his straight left hands. His best moment came midway through the round when the San Antonio native connected with a left to the midsection. Edwards frequently complained to referee Chris Flores of low blows that appeared to land on the beltline but also found success with his left hook around Rodriguez’s high guard.
Edwards was forced to contend with swelling under his left eye in round two. Rodriguez connected with a straight right hand upstairs—immediately after a body shot—that appeared to do the damage. Edwards earlier connected with a right hand and also landed a check hook. Rodriguez continued to beat the Brit to the punch with his jab.
An effort to protect his eye saw Edwards turn to southpaw in round three. He enjoyed offensive success from both stances, as he landed a right hand at close quarters and later slammed home a straight left on Rodriguez’s jaw. The pro-Rodriguez crowd booed as Edwards tied up on the inside and attempted to make it a grueling affair.
Edwards enjoyed his best round to that point of the fight in the fourth. Rodriguez struggled for the first time to contend with the Brit’s increased movement, though Edwards always remained in range to land clean, straight shots. His most impressive moment came when he caught Rodriguez with a straight left after he immediately switched to southpaw.
Rodriguez rode out a straight left to the chin and connected with a left of his own in round five. It was followed by a digging body shot for Rodriguez, who was urged by his corner—Robert Garcia Sr. and Jr.—to block and counter rather than react to Edwards’ shots.
A different approach was taken by Rodriguez, who briefly rocked Edwards early in round six. Edwards quickly regained his composure and invested more than what has he always insisted to be underrated power.
Rodriguez had Edwards hurt both early and late in a dominant round six. Rodriguez jumped out to an early lead and later had his fellow unbeaten titlist pinned along the ropes as he unloaded with power shots. A rare lapse in focus saw Rodriguez stick out his tongue and taunt Edwards, who caught the southpaw and drove him to the ropes in the closing seconds of an entertaining frame.
It was hardly a momentum shift for Edwards, who poured blood in round seven from cuts under his left eye and along the inside of his right eye. Concern was expressed by referee Chris Flores at the end of the round but a brief examination by the ringside physician provided a clean bill of health.
Rodriguez had other ideas in mind. The 23-year-old southpaw was relentless in his attack in the eighth and ninth rounds. Rodriguez took advantage of the lack of Edwards’ mobility and loaded up on his power shots. None was ever more potent than a left hand at the end of round nine to send Edwards to the canvas for the first time as a pro. The sequence was set up by a right to the body before the left crashed home up top.
Edwards (20-1, 4KOs) bravely peeled himself off the canvas and made it out of the round but was not permitted to throw another punch. His corner informed the referee that their charge was done for the night, resulting in his first defeat. He made four defenses of the IBF title he held since April 2021.
Rodriguez advanced to 19-0 (12KOs) with by far the best win of his young career. The two-division titlist made the first defense of his WBO belt and added the IBF strap to his collection.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox