Sunny Edwards Accuses Bam Rodriguez of Avoiding Him
IBF flyweight champion “Showtime” Sunny Edwards (18-0, 4KO) went on a social media rant after hearing Robert Garcia, trainer to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, prefers Bam to fight WBC super flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada next.
On April 8, Rodriguez (17-0, 11KO) will face Cristian Gonzalez for the vacant WBO flyweight title. Bam is coming down from the super flyweight division after vacating the WBC title he won in 2022. The plan is for Bam, provided a victory, to fight Edwards in a major unification.
GARCIA PREFERS A FIGHT WITH ESTRADA OVER EDWARDS
3kingsboxing.com reported the IBF champion had signed his side of the contract to fight Rodriguez. During an interview with Seconds Out, Garcia explained why he prefers a fight with Estrada over Edwards next for Bam.
“This is the only thing that would change our plans around. I know that Estrada, it was a Spanish interview, and he was talking about him wanting to fight Bam and him thinking that Bam is not that special of a fighter.”
“He said that he would love to fight him. So, I know that Matchroom [Boxing] and himself, with his promoters, they have plans on fighting in July or August . . . I would prefer a Gallo [Estrada] fight here in the States.”
Edwards took to social media and quickly sent a message to Garcia and Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn.
In fairness, Garcia mentioned that Matchroom hasn’t started negotiations with him for the Edwards fight and has no issues with the match-up happening next. Furthermore, he called out Estrada for a fight before the news of Edwards signing up for a possible unification was revealed.
This author believes a fight with Estrada, from a financial and legacy perspective, is the better option for the former WBC champion than Edwards. However, if Bam wins the WBO title, a unification with the IBF champion should happen later in the year.
