After a breakout 2022 for Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez that saw him end the year on many Fighter of the Year lists, the 23-year-old is looking to close 2023 by becoming a unified champion for the first time in his young career. Rodriguez will put his WBO flyweight championship on the line Saturday night when he faces IBF champion Sunny Edwards.
Rodriguez’s 2022 campaign saw him pick up three wins. In February of that year, Rodriguez moved up a weight division on roughly one week’s notice to face Carlos Cuadras for the vacant WBC super flyweight championship. Rodriguez got the win and became the sport’s youngest active champion in the process. He would defend the title twice in 2022, beating Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Israel Gonzalez.
This year saw Rodriguez return to flyweight, vacating his super flyweight belt in the process, where he defeated Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez to pick up the vacant WBO title. A broken jaw suffered in the Hernandez fight resulted in surgery and a layoff for Rodriguez before he was able to prepare to face Edwards in a unification battle.
“This is the biggest fight of my life, the biggest fight of my career,” Rodriguez said at the final press conference this week. “All my work has been done in the gym and everyone will see come Saturday night.”
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Edwards won his title in March 2021 with a decision win over Moruti Mthalane. Since winning the belt, Edwards has been an active champion, successfully defending the title four times. Most recently, Edwards picked up a win over Andres Campos in June.
Unlike Rodriguez, who has 11 stoppage victories in 18 career wins, Edwards primarily relies on his skills to win fights on the scorecards, with only four stoppage wins across 20 fights in his undefeated career. Edwards has gone nine fights without a stoppage win.
Up until Thursday’s press conference, the build to the fight was rather mild. That all changed when the fighters sat in front of the media, with Edwards claiming he could have bullied Rodriguez and his team but chose not to before launching into a tirade over Edwards’ association with SNAC Fighters, a nutrition program ran by Victor Conte, who was famously at the center of the BALCO steroid distribution before becoming an anti-doping advocate.
Edwards repeatedly claimed Rodriguez was a cheater and suggested that if they posted someone outside of Rodriguez’s room after weigh-ins, Rodriguez would be in trouble, suggesting Rodriguez would use banned IV rehydration methods to recover from the weight cut. Edwards also claimed Rodriguez and his team did not want the fight.
“I know how hard it was to get you and your team to accept this fight, what you were asking for, the weeks after weeks, wanting to go back to super flyweight,” Edwards said. “You didn’t want this fight, Robert Garcia, who did not turn up, didn’t want this fight. It took you about three months to accept the fight. You didn’t fly over for the [Anthony Joshua] fight when they could have announced it on the PPV card in the ring. You didn’t fly over to see me because you was fat and you had a broken jaw and your mouth was wired shut.”
The undercard sees some more interesting showdowns in the lower weight classes. Former unified champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev is back in action when he takes on Kevin Gonzalez at super bantamweight Akhmadaliev is coming off his first pro loss when he dropped a split decision to Marlon Tapales in April, who will challenge Naoya Inoue later this month in a four-belt unification. Plus, Galal Yafai is back in action when he takes on Rocco Santomauro at flyweight. And more super bantamweights kick off the show when Peter McGrail takes on Ja’Rico O’Quinn.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the undercard before getting to a prediction and expert pick on the main event.
Viewing information
- Date: Dec. 16
- Location: Desert Diamond Arena — Glendale, Arizona
- Start time: 8 p.m. ET (Main event expected around 11:15 p.m. ET)
- How to watch: DAZN (subscribe now)
Rodriguez vs. Edwards fight card, odds
| Favorite | Underdog | Weight class |
|---|---|---|
| Jesse Rodriguez (c) -260 | Sunny Edwards (c) +210 | IBF, WBO flyweight title unification |
| Murodjon Akhmadaliev -500 | Kevin Gonzalez +380 | Super bantamweight |
| Galal Yafai -1200 | Rocco Santomauro +750 | Flyweight |
| Peter McGrail -550 | Ja’Rico O’Quinn +400 | Super bantamweight |
Prediction
Edwards is a tricky, speedy fighter who tries to get opponents stuck in neutral while they try to figure out the spaces and timing to catch him. Despite being younger, Rodriguez has fought better opponents and has more pop in his shots, which feels like it may make the difference in the fight. If Rodriguez can force exchanges, Edwards doesn’t really have the power to back him down or make him question his willingness to go toe-to-toe.
Make no mistake, in a year loaded with big fights featuring talented fighters, Rodriguez vs. Edwards deserves to be mentioned among the best fights that can be made in the sport. Both are young, talented fighters who need these kinds of fights to boost their profiles.
Edwards is a very live underdog coming into the fight and could absolutely outbox Rodriguez and use his speed to keep Rodriguez from getting his game going. But Rodriguez has high fight IQ and enough skills to get the job done. Add in Rodriguez having the home-field advantage with the fight in Glendale, Arizona and you have the recipe for a close fight which Rodriguez edges out on the scorecards. Pick: Jesse Rodriguez via UD
