Sunny Edwards Doubtful of December Bam Rodriguez Fight
So long as everything sticks to the script, then IBF flyweight champion Sunny “Showtime” Edwards (20-0, 4 KO’s) and WBO 112-pound champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (18-0, 11 KO’s) will go to war. The two just recently met face-to-face for the first time while kicking off their media tour. Yet, despite staging a smooth, successful event and displaying great mutual respect, Edwards harbors sincere doubt that the match takes place.
In his opinion, if the fight does not take place, neither cowardice nor greed are to blame. Instead, as he explained to Seconds Out, Showtime would actually believe Bam is suffering from residual damage from his last tour of duty.
“I think the face, I think that is more of a swollen jaw than actual weight because you can see visibly on the other side of his face it’s slimmer . . . I’d be surprised if he turned up on the sixteenth of December. I feel like the more I think about it, the more I’m looking at things, I reckon they are at least going to try to delay it until the next year. And if not, trying to go a completely different route in general. Generally I feel like I’d be surprised if, on the sixteenth of December, we fight.”
THE RIGORS OF WAR
In his last duel, versus Cristian Hernandez, Rodriguez was able to capture the vacant WBO title in a spirited battle. During the fight however, Bam was saddled with a fractured jaw which is the damage that Edwards was referring to. Having suffered various injuries to his own jaw, albeit not as serious, Showtime is skeptical that Rodriguez commits to the brutal requisites of a responsible training camp.
It will be interesting going forward to see if the WBO champion’s physical reality does impede or cancel the upcoming duel. Even more intriguing, however, would be to hear what Bam and his team have to say about Edwards’ recent confessions.
In the end though, let’s just cross our fingers and hope that Showtime is wrong because this is a great fight for the combatants and the boxing public. No matter what the final verdict may be, stay plugged into 3Kings Boxing for all the latest updates and commentary.
