IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards was furious with WBO champ Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez for showing up late for the weigh-in on Friday. Sunny (20-0, 4 KOs) threatened to leave at one point.
Both fighters weighed 111.6 lbs for their headliner on DAZN this Saturday, December 16th. The event starts at 9:00 p.m. ET. This was a weird weigh-in.
Psychological warfare
Sunny seemed like he had self-control for once, but as soon as the weigh-in ended, he erupted like a volcano, complaining, sounding like a spoiled brat who didn’t get the toy he wanted for Christmas.
After they both successfully weighed in, Sunny vented his anger over the 23-year-old Bam’s late arrival, verbally bashing him, then dropped the mic and walked off in a dramatic Hollywood-esque manner; it looked like a staged job, but Sunny didn’t have the acting skills to pull it off.
Prediction – Rodriguez vs. Edward: Bam wins by eighth round knockout after catching Sunny with a left hook to the head.
Weights:
Jesse Rodriguez 111.6 vs. Sunny Edwards 111.6
Murodjon Akhmadaliev 121.6 vs. Kevin Gonzalez (121
Galal Yafai 111.8 vs. Rocco Santomauro 111.4
Peter McGrail 121.6 vs. Ja’Rico O’Quinn 122
Arturo Cardenas 123.4 vs. Carlos Mujica 122
Junaid Bostan 155.2 vs. Gordie Russ II (155.2
Albert Gonzalez (127.2 vs. Alexis Molina 126.2
Joe McGrail 125.8 vs. Edgar Ortiz Jr. 123
Rodriguez late on the scales
“Bam was a half an hour late, and Sunny went, ‘I ain’t waiting. I’m going,’ and then he said, ‘I’ll only come back when you send me a picture of Bam in the arena.’ Then the guy sent him a picture, and he had to come back from the hotel,'” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing King Media about Sunny Edwards getting upset today at the weigh-in due to Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez being late.
“We were 45 minutes late on the scale. They weighed in, they made weight, and we’re ready to fight tomorrow night,” Hearn continued. “No more bull***, no more mind games. Just one of the best fights in boxing.
All this trash-talking and raging that Edwards has done isn’t going to rattle Bam, making him nervous and making him unwilling to throw punches on Saturday night.
He’s dealt with fighters playing mind games in the past, trying to intimidate him into not fighting with confidence. For this fight, Bam has even less to fear because Sunny has no power and uses technical skills to win his fights.
“It’s an issue for Sunny Edwards and SNAC,” said Hearn about Edwards criticizing SNAC repeatedly during the final press conference last Thursday. “This fight has been tested for God knows how long, 14 weeks, 12, whatever it is.
“Both guys have been tested on numerous occasions. Sunny has his own opinions. I’ll leave that to him, SNAC, and Victor Conte. He can have a chat with him on Twitter if he wants,” said Hearn.
Edwards’ best bet is to try to outbox Bam because he doesn’t possess the power to knock him out. It’s the wrong location to hope for a controversial decision, as the fight is at the Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Sunny will need to punch with Bam to win a decision because the judges will likely give to the bigger puncher of the two.
Sunny complaining about not being given credit
“He was just letting me know that he didn’t want to be here, and I’m going to punch him up basically,” said Sunny to Boxing News on what Jesse Rodriguez said to him during the face-off during the final press conference.
“I love fighting southpaws. I’ve had great southpaw sparring. If he switches, then I’ll switch. It doesn’t matter. I prefer the opposite stance. No matter what stance. I can do both, constantly swap.”
Edwards has got his work cut out for him against Bam, considering he’s outgunned in every department.
- Power: Bam
- Youth: Bam
- Speed: Even
- Jab: Bam
- Mobility: Sunny
- Ring IQ: Event
Sunny will attempt to outbox Bam, using movement, jabbing, potshots, and holding to neutralize his game.
“I don’t think so [39-year-old Moruti [Mthalane] was the hardest I’ve been in with,” said Edwards when asked if Jesse Rodriguez is his toughest opponent. He was in Ring Magazine for a long time. All the other champions heavily avoided him.
“He knocked out [Zolani] Tete and [Johnriel] Casimero in back-to-back fights. His last loss before me was to Nonito Donaire 3 rounds to 2 on a cut in the fifth round [correction: Moruti lost by a sixth round knockout to Donaire,” said Edwards.
Former IBF flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane was an excellent fighter during his day, but by the time he fought Sunny in 2021, he was 39 years old and not the same guy he’d been a decade ago.
Moruti was an older fighter by the time Sunny fought him and lost a 12 round decision. If he were younger, he would have beaten Sunny, and it would have been easy.
“That’s who I beat to win my world title [39-year-old Moruti], and Bam is a two-weight world champion, beating zero world champions to do it,” said Sunny.
Edwards dismisses Bam
“Let’s understand that one has been overmarketed and over-promoted and well-matched, and the other one [Sunny] has had to earn every single thing that I ever got, and still not got the credit. I’m still waiting for mine,” said Sunny.
Sunny’s theatrics won’t prevent what’s going to happen on Saturday night. Bam would need to have a bad night for him to lose this fight because he’s got everything going for him in this match-up. Sunny’s trash talking is empty noise, and won’t change the tide of battle.
One question mark is Bam’s jaw. If it’s not fully healed, he could have problems with Sunny’s shots.
“He’s [Bam Rodriguez] is already halfway out of boxing. He doesn’t like it here. He didn’t want to promote the fight, but he didn’t want to build the fight,” said Sunny.
“Eddie tried booking them flights to come over for my fight and to come over for the AJ fight to announce it in the ring. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to come from home. His jaw was too swollen. It’s still swollen. You could see it visibly.”
“I’m going to beat him, I’m going to take his belt, and I ain’t surprised,” said Sunny. “I know I’m going to do it. I’m so excited for Saturday. Everything is the next stride. I’m not sitting here going, ‘Oh no, I’ve got to get in the ring on Saturday. There might be people watching. I might not be good.’ No, it’s none of that.”
If Sunny wins, it would be good for Hearn because he’ll have a new star in the UK that can draw big crowds for his fights. The flyweight vision isn’t a popular one traditionally, but an upset win for Sunny against Bam would get UK fans excited about watching him fight live.
“I am so grateful for the life that I live, that I can provide for my kid, and how I can bring my kids with me. I don’t think you understand how grateful I am and how much I enjoy what I do. I’m addicted to fighting,” said Sunny.
