Sunny Edwards accused Jesse Rodriguez of being a “cheat” ahead of their IBF and WBO flyweight title fight.
The IBF champion, 27, and Rodriguez finally fight on Saturday at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, and Edwards – whose reputation owes partly to his ability to get under his opponents’ skin – questioned whether come fight night Rodriguez would be clean.
Rodriguez, 23, has never failed a drugs test, and Edwards offered no evidence to support his claims. He regardless cited Rodriguez’s relationship with SNAC – which was founded by Victor Conte of BALCO infamy, who today is an advocate for increased testing in the sport for performance enhancing drugs.
Their promoter Eddie Hearn had suggested Rodriguez is the best Edwards will have faced, and Edwards then responded: “Of course he’s the best fighter. He’s with them other cheaters at SNAC. Imagine having that logo on you – question marks all over your career. That’s crazy to me. As if you’d even have that logo on your shorts, and we know what you’re doing when you weigh in as well.
“We know wbere you’re going; we know you’re struggling for weight. If we put someone outside their hotel room you wouldn’t make it to the hotel room. Why, because you need a doctor to come and put something in your veins. There we go. Deny that. SNAC fighters, question marks on all of you. You can put anything into your system; I don’t care.
“You ain’t gonna win anyway.
“I’m not worried about this 23-year-old kid who needs performance enhancing substances. Clean hearts always win. [I have a] clean body, mind, soul.”
Grant Smith, Edwards’ trainer, accompanied Edwards, but Robert Garcia, who trains Rodriguez, did not.
“Your trainer didn’t come out to Orlando [to promote the fight] and he’s not here right now,” Edwards said. “Why not? Because he’s scared of what I’m gonna say.
“The reason why I laid off on you is because I know, through conversations with [Hearn, of Matchroom] how hard it was to get you to accept this fight; what you was asking for; how long it took; the weeks after weeks. You didn’t want this fight. None of you wanted this fight.”
Rodriguez, the WBO champion, responded to Edwards’ accusations by saying: “I’m not even paying attention.
“Nah. We’re clean on this side. I got drug tested.”
