Thursday afternoon in Orlando, Florida. San Antonio's own Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez and "Showtime: Sunny Edwards, of Surrey, England met face to face at the press conference announcing their December 16th Flyweight unification fight in Glendale, Arizona.
Rodriguez, 18-0 (11), currently holds the WBO belt, and Edwards 20-0 (4), holds the IBF strap at 112-pounds. The pair of champions kept the press conference respectful and spoke well of each other. Rodrigeuz said, "I’ve never been one to say no to a fight. This is the best fighting the best. This is what every boxer dreams of." The Texan is a two-division world champion. He won his first world title at 115 pounds by stepping in on a week's notice and dominated Carlos Cuadras over 12-one-sided rounds he defended the belt twice before vacating the belt and moving back down to his more natural weight of 112. He outclassed Cristian Gonzalez in April to capture the WBO Flyweight title. This will be his first defense of that title. Rodriguez added that "this is the biggest fight of his career" and expressed much confidence in himself saying, "He hasn’t faced anyone like me. Someone with good footwork and determination. December 16th is going to be a good one."
Edwards captured his IBF world title back in 2021 by outpointing Moruti Mthalane, at York Hall in London. Showtime has successfully defended his title four times, winning all his defenses via decision, including his most recent victory in a tougher-than-expected battle with undefeated Andres Campos. Edwards compared himself to a "Rubik's cube", saying "No one can figure him out."
The pair will then continue the media tour for the event in London next week, with media activities to be confirmed around the fight week for Jai Opetaia’s IBF World Cruiserweight title defense against Jordan Thompson at the OVO Arena Wembley on Saturday, September 30th, airing live on DAZN.