So, there we have it, Jesse Rodriguez exhibited his superiority over Sunny Edwards by forcing the Brit’s corner to stop the fight at the conclusion of the ninth round on Saturday at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

Heading into what many thought was the biggest and best flyweight pairing in many a year, battle lines were drawn. The contest pitted Edwards, The Ring’s No. 1-rated flyweight, known for his quick hands and feet, coupled with ring I.Q. against Rodriguez, The Ring’s No.4-rated flyweight, noted for his heavier hands and all-around skill set.

However, from the opening bell, Edwards rather surprisingly stood in the pocket and looked to get the Texan’s respect with heated exchanges. While he had successes, you couldn’t help wondering what happened to the fleet-footed slickster that had got himself this far.

The 23-year-old American’s power marked up Edwards face as the damage began to take it’s toll. To Edwards endless credit, he dug in and refused to go without a fight. He got his licks in but it was Rodriguez who had the upper hand.

Rodriguez (19-0, 12 knockouts) dropped Edwards (20-1, 4 KOs) with a big left hand in the closing seconds of the ninth round. He made his way back to his corner, but they had seen enough and let their charge see another day, getting referee Chris Flores’ attention and the official waved the action off before Round 10 began.

At the time of the stoppage the talented Texan, who added the IBF title to his WBO belt, was ahead 89-81, 87-83 (twice).

The mastery on display was evident and, in a year, when we’ve seen several supposed 50/50 fights end up becoming rather one sided, this was another. Full credit to Rodriguez, who had gone off the boil in recent wins over tough cabrons Israel Gonzalez (UD 12) and Cristian Gonzalez (UD 12). This was a return to form and then some. One that may well see Rodriguez enter the mythical pound-for-pound rankings.

Afterwards, Rodriguez spoke to DAZN’s Chris Mannix and expressed his happiness at the triumph.

“It’s badass, I worked my ass off for this, I knew it was going to come to me, it was just a matter of time,” Rodriguez said. “He was difficult, he was quicker than I thought, a lot smarter than I thought but you saw what happened.

“Sunny’s a helluva fighter, he’s a champion for a reason, was 20-0 for a reason. I brought something out tonight that he couldn’t handle.”

Rodriguez let it be known that he intends to head back to junior bantamweight and has his eye on Ring and WBC junior bantamweight titlist Juan Francisco Estrada.

“I was calling him out when I was at 115, why not now?”

Champ Champ 👑👑 @210bam pic.twitter.com/qnNFEbyn65

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 17, 2023

Edwards was quick to pass his respect to the victor.

“Jesse’s a helluva fighter, I knew that before the fight and during the fight and I sure as hell know after the fight,” acknowledged Edwards. “I think it was a great fight but the better man won today. No excuses, no regrets. It wasn’t my night tobight but I’ll definitely be back for sure.

“After the ninth round I couldn’t see out of both eyes and my corner made the decision to pull me out, probably the right one.”

CompuBox also illustrated Rodriguez’s dominance. He out-landed Edwards in every round. Impressively, the American landed 238 of 533 punches, for a 44.7 connect rate, compared to Edwards’ 138 of 504, which translates to 27.4%. Rodriguez found a home for 180 of 290 power shots, equating to a razor-sharp 62 percent. All the more outstanding given Edwards defensive acumen.

Lot of people being nice to me, probably don’t deserve it. Don’t give people a hard time for enjoying it, I know what I signed up for.

This one’s for you, see you all next year 🥂 pic.twitter.com/FdK0wVF8jm

— 21-0Sunny (@SunnyEdwards) December 17, 2023

Hopefully we see Rodriguez further unify with erratic WBC counterpart Julio Cesar Martinez or long-reigning WBA ruler Artem Dalakian. However, it appears if they can come to an agreement financially, Rodriguez will be heading back up to 115 to face current Ring and WBC beltholder Estrada in 2024. In was at junior bantamweight where Rodriguez previously held the WBC title and scored watershed wins over respected veteran Carlos Cuadras (UD 12) and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (TKO 8). Estrada vs. Rodriguez would be an excellent meeting between a young lion and an older battle-hardened champion.

Meanwhile the charismatic and outspoken Edwards showed toughness and grit to go with his boxing skills. He turns 28 soon but has time to come again. He’s made it clear he wants to face the best and on this showing he deserves another shot the top dogs in and around his weight. A domestic dust up with 2020 Olympic gold medalist Galal Yafai beckons next year and so does the opportunity to regain a world title, which may be easier to come by if Rodriguez vacates the two belts he won on Saturday.

All in all we were treated to something special between two of the best fighters in one of boxing’s smallest weight classes. Take a bow, gents.

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on
Twitter@AnsonWainwright

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE RING FOR FREE VIA THE NEW APP NOW. SUBSCRIBE NOW TO ACCESS MORE THAN 10 YEARS OF BACK ISSUES.