One of the best big fights between little men, the December 16 unification clash between reigning flyweight champions Jesse Bam Rodriguez and Sunny Edwards could prove to be the final highlight of 2023. Following other best versus the best match ups that we saw this year, such as Tank Davis against Ryan Garcia, and Terence Crawford against Errol Spence, the upcoming showdown between unbeaten champions will go down in Arizona, and plenty of fans are excited.
It could be, though, that Edwards, 20-0(4) and the IBF ruler, is the man who is most excited, thrilled even, about this fight being made. And the slick operator from the UK is starting off with the trash-talk.
Edwards says his rival, the reigning WBO champ Bam being 18-0(11) is a rival he will make “look silly” on fight night. Edwards, who is no big puncher the way Rodriguez is, the Brit’s thing being to box, box, box, says Bam “can’t fight coming forward,” and that he will suitably capitalise on this with his finely tuned skills.
“I feel like he can’t come forward and I’m going to have him falling all night,” Edwards said of Rodriguez. “He is definitely exciting and he has a lot of hype behind him. But I’m going to put a big stop to that. I’m going to make him look silly in his home town.”
Rodriguez, who has been quiet so far in the lead-up to this fight – to the extent that Edwards, who thinks this fight should’ve happened earlier, said Bam has “gone missing” – naturally disagrees, the younger man feeling he will leave Edwards in a heap some place on the canvas. We shall see who has the last laugh on the night. Interestingly, former champ and future Hall of Famer Chocolatito has said this one will be an “easy fight” for Bam. Again, we shall see.
If Edwards and Rodriguez were bigger men, the hype surrounding the December fight would be pretty huge. That said, us hard-core boxing junkies are pretty hyped up as it is. This fight promises to be special for those fans who will be watching on the night.
Will it be an explosive win for Rodriguez, or will the slick skills of Edwards run the show on December 16?
Who are YOU picking? I assume YOU are picking a winner here.