GLENDALE, Arizona – Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez ended the debate surrounding the world’s finest flyweight when he broke down and stopped Sunny Edwards in nine one-sided rounds on Saturday.

The defending WBO titleholder produced his most impressive performance to also seize the IBF belt from an opponent widely considered his equal, and to establish himself among the very finest fighters in the world.

As early as the second round at the Desert Diamond Arena there were signs that he was succeeding in forcing Edwards to fight his fight.

What unfolded thereafter became increasingly one-sided, and to the extent that it also quickly became clear that Edwards had found himself not so much in a competitive match-up but one in which he would struggle to survive.

As early as the second round he started to hurt Edwards, who absorbed the straight right hand he launched but quickly looked troubled by Rodriguez’s effortless power and was forced backwards by a left hand to the body and threatened by the nature of fight that was unfolding.

The 27-year-old Edwards – smaller but previously widely considered more cultured – was hurt again in the third by another left hand and if he then had more success by adopting a southpaw stance his left eye was by then already starting to swell.

Another left forced him to hold on in the fourth round, and though he then caught the eye with a right-hand counter, his head was snapped back by a further hurtful left.

As much as his advantages in size and strength Rodriguez’s impressive feet and educated pressure ensured that he – and not the fighter perceived to be the boxer – was dictating the range and pace at which they fought.

The sixth round that followed proved even more absorbing, but because it involved Edwards standing his ground and risking trading with Rodriguez it came at the cost of him bleeding more heavily from his left eye and brought the clearest indication yet that he was on the verge of being broken down.

Two further one-sided rounds followed in which Rodriguez – not unlike Gennady Golovkin in his middleweight prime and with the maturity of an elite fighter beyond his 23 years – patiently and systematically left Edwards with little choice but to attempt to survive.

He had already knocked out Edwards’ gumshield in the ninth when a left cross landed so concussively that one of Edwards’ legs gave way from underneath him, and he then struggled to beat the referee Chris Flores’ count.

DOWN GOES EDWARDS!!!

AND IT’S OVER AT THE END OF THE ROUND!

BAM RODRIGUEZ! 👑👑 @210bam #RodriguezEdwards live on @DAZNBoxing pic.twitter.com/ECU0qshrtv

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 17, 2023

Only the round’s imminent conclusion stopped the Briton from being stopped there and then. His trainer Grant Smith regardless made the right call to signal that he was withdrawing him before the start of the 10th, more aware than almost any of the overwhelming inevitability of defeat.

“This was the biggest win of my career – and my life,” Rodriguez said. “My last two performances [victories over Israel Gonzalez and Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez] a lot of media were writing me off, saying I was a hype job, this and that. They were talking very negatively about me. So that, on top of winning a unification fight against another undefeated champion is as big as it gets, and that’s why I was so emotional after the fight.”

He had learned, after agreeing terms to fight Edwards, that his partner Rebecca will give birth to a baby girl in the coming months.

“I knew this fight would not only change my life but change my daughter’s life,” he said. “For bigger opportunities, and just be able to buy her better things. I had a lot of motivation going into this fight knowing I have a daughter on the way. I’m just so happy right now – I can’t wait for her to finally be here and finally meet her, and tell her about this night. She’s due in April.”

For every way in which Rodriguez readily expresses himself in the ring, he is – in a further contrast to Edwards – a reluctant talker and one aware that his trainer Robert Garcia is more capable of putting into perspective his growing list of achievements.

“When he came to my gym at 15, I knew he was going to be special,” Garcia said. “I knew he was already special. We had to buy fights in Mexico – Tijuana – because the lower weights is not easy. He became champion in a fight when he moved up divisions [last year to win the WBC super flyweight title by defeating Carlos Cuadras], and that was the beginning of everything. There’s no stopping us anymore.”

His promoter Eddie Hearn spoke, post-fight, of his belief that Rodriguez should become a feature on pound-for-pound lists, and though his profession means he was obliged to do so on this occasion he unquestionably made a valid point.

Hearn also said that he expected Edwards to go to the hospital for a X-ray on the damage to his left cheek, but before he returned to his dressing room Edwards said from the ring: “From about the second round I couldn’t really see out of my left eye, and it made it very difficult to stay out of the way of his lead hand.

“I thought it was a great fight but the better man won on the night.

“I couldn’t just keep moving and moving and moving [so I had to risk trading with him]. His feet were too good for that. His lead hand was too good for that. After about the ninth, 10th round I couldn’t really see out of both eyes. My corner made the decision to pull me out, and it was probably right.

“He’s a hell of a fighter. Hell of a champion. [But] I’ll be back.”

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