Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs) had a pound-for-pound performance last night against Sunny Edwards (20-1, 4 KOs), making him a unified flyweight champion. Rodriguez was so dominant that he would likely make his way into most, if not all, of the media’s top ten pound-for-pound lists. Rodriguez is a special fighter and is taking the baton from boxing legend Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez as one to watch within the flyweight divisions.
The new unified champion of the flyweight division.
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 17, 2023
In a highly entertaining fight, @210bam got the stoppage between rounds 9 and 10.#autozone pic.twitter.com/NR21INCwVk
When the fight began, Edwards looked ready for the big stage as Rodriguez tried to figure out how this would play out. It seems that Bam saw everything he needed in the first round, as the second round was completely opposite. Rodriguez started to pump that right jab and feint with the overhand right, then threw a straight left to the chest. When Rodriguez wasn’t doing that, he was making subtle shifts that would allow him to be in position to land a left hook to the body with a good amount of torque.
Although Rodriguez looked great throughout the middle of the rounds, Edwards showed that he had no quit and was firing back counter shots, which would make him hesitate to work his way in. Although Edwards showed grit, his face fell apart pretty quickly. It was first the left eye that began swelling from the second round. Then, it became cuts over his left and right eye, eventually making it all look messy. Edwards wasn’t going to go out without a bang, but finally, in the ninth round, Bam’s straight left hand connected, sending Edwards face-first to the canvas. Edwards would somehow get up and beat the count, but when he went to the corner, his trainers looked him in the eye and told him that was it. The referee waved the fight off, and Rodriguez became a unified flyweight champion.
Left eye went in the 2nd from a sharp jab. Was seeing double the majority of the fight. Enjoyed every moment of the event grateful to be a part of it all.@210bam congratulations & well done on a great performance, been boxing 18 years & it’s never been like that. 👏 pic.twitter.com/xxQ6jbZTlm
— 21-0Sunny (@SunnyEdwards) December 17, 2023
Before last night’s victory, Bam was already in the P4P discussions after beating legendary super flyweights like Carlos Caudras & Wisaksil Wangnek. Still, people weren’t ready to move him into the top ten list after his previous two fights. This win against Edwards, who was an undefeated champion, is the type of win that definitely puts him on there. While some are just as deserving like David Benavidez and Kenshiro Teraji, Bam’s performance was a little better, but not by much. Although the smaller fighters don’t get as much press as the nigger guys, Rodriguez is forcing people to pay attention with his special performances.
While everyone digested what happened last night on DAZN, Rodriguez gave his opinion on whether he belongs on any P4P lists. “I definitely belong, “Rodriguez said. “I give a lot of respect to the top ten. Beating Sunny Edwards, I belong in the top ten.” There you have it. Is Rodriguez worthy of being placed on a P4P list? This week, we’ll see if anyone does and what the reaction from the fans will be because of it.
