Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez dismantles Sunny Edwards, scores TKO to unify belts

GLENDALE -- Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is every bit the star he claims to be.

Rodriguez dropped, dismantled and beat up Sunny Edwards in stunningly easy fashion en route to a one-sided ninth-round knockout to unify two flyweight world title belts in the main event of the Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN on Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena.

The unbeaten San Antonio native, boxing’s youngest active world titleholder at age 23, controlled the bout from the onset as he outboxed and outpunched his opponent. He pelted him with clean shots from both hands, landed many powerful jabs and steadily broke the now-former champion down. He scored a knockdown in the closing stages of round nine to force a corner stoppage in between rounds nine and ten to unify the IBF and WBO flyweight titles,

"I brought something out of him tonight that he couldn't handle," said Rodriguez. "He was a lot quicker than I thought; a lot smarter than I thought. made him wanna fight; he got caught."

Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs) was ahead on all two of three scorecards at the time of the stoppage: 89-81, 87-87 and 87-83.

Following a dominant win over the No. 2 fighter in the division, Rodriguez could return to 115 pounds.

WBC junior bantamweight world champion Juan Francisco Estrada was ringside; both Rodriguez and promoter Eddie Hearn indicated the future Hall of Famer from Mexico could be next.

"Up close, that was one of the best performances I've ever seen," Hearn said. "This kid is super special. You talk about pound-for-pound great fighters. Sometimes the lower division don't get the credit they deserve."

Rodriguez had not fought since August, when he defeated Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez despite suffering a broken jaw. Edwards connected with a pair of stiff overhand lefts in the first round, proving his face was up for the task.

Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs) landed the first shot of the night with a right hand to the body. Edwards also connected with a jab and a pair of body shots. And in the closing seconds of the opening round, Edwards connected with a pair of right hands in the clinch.

A short left uppercut from Rodriguez surprised Edwards in the opening seconds of rounds two. Rodriguez then began to establish his jab and with authority and with painful results as a nasty welt began to develop under Edwards' left eye.

"I was confident the whole fight," Rodriguez said. "Maybe too confident."

Edwards and Rodriguez put on a show in the third round. In an effort to protect his worsening left eye, Edwards went southpaw. He enjoyed success at close range and connected with a hard straight left on Rodriguez’s jaw. The pro-Rodriguez crowd booed as Edwards attempted to rough up his man on the inside and make it a nasty affair.

In the fourth, Rodriguez went back to boxing and targeted Edwards' damaged left eye and backed him up with his excellent southpaw jab throughout the round.

Rodriguez had another impressive performance in fifth round, as he continued the jab fest. With 1:30 left in the frame, Edwards attempted to get rough on the inside, but Rodriguez made him pay, connecting with a pair of stiff lefts and rights. Edwards smiled after the exchange, but he certainly felt the effects of the blows.

Rodriguez had a big seventh round as he continued his two-handed attack. He backed Edwards up with his southpaw jab and straight left hand, which caused an abrasion above his right eye to add to the bumps and bruises. Edwards fired back, but Rodriguez was relentless and countered Edwards effectively behind a stiff right cross.

In the eighth roumd. Rodriguez pounded Edwards with jabs and body shots. To his credit, Edwards continued to punch back as he wiped away blood from multiple cuts. With about 20 seconds left in the round, Rodriguez landed nine unanswered punches. However, Edwards sent Rodriguez into the ropes as the bell rung to end the round.

Edwards tried to slug it out down the stretch in a desperate ploy to turn the cards in his favor, but his valiant attempt came up short. Rodriguez was simply too cute, too powerful, and too strong for the Englishman.

In round nine, Rodriguez crushed Edwards with a massive left hook that sent his man down face first. Edwards somehow beat the count and made it back to his corner under his own power. But his team pulled the plug and waved off the fight before the start of the 10th.

In the co-main event, Murodjon Akhmdaliev bounced back from his first professional loss with a one-sided, eighth-round technical knockout win over Kevin Gonzalez.

Rounding Out The Undercard

Galal Yafai defeated Rocco Santomauro by unanimous decision in a dull 10-round, 112-pound bout.

Ja'Rico O'Quinn (17-1-1, 9 KOs) scored an emphatic, come-from-behind fifth-round knockout of previously unbeaten Peter McGrail (8-1, 5 KOs).