By Norm Frauenheim and David Galaviz

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Only SuperFly could crash the top of the pound-pound debate.

Jesse Rodriguez did that and maybe more with a definitive seventh-round knockout of Juan Francisco Estrada Saturday night in front of a roaring crowd at Footprint.

Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs), the World Boxing Council’s new SuperFly champion, did it by knocking down Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs) in the fourth round and finishing him with a body shot in the seventh. He also did it by showing some of his own grit. He got up from the first knockdown in his career.

“Damn, that was crazy,” Rodriguez said.

Damn that was a good fight, a leading contender for Fight of the Year in 2024.

Estrada, down in the fourth round from a Bam uppercut, came roaring back in the sixth, knocking down Rodriguez with a right hand. What would follow in the seventh was — to use Bam’s word — crazy.

He threw a left hand to Estrada’s body.When it landed, it seemed to paralyze Estrada. He hit the canvas, rolled around in pain. In the final second of the seventh, he was finished, a loser by knockout.

“I made a lot of mistakes,” said the 37-year-old Estrada, who was fighting for the time in about 19 months.

He’s hoping to correct those mistakes in a rematch. Estrada said his contract included a clause for a rematch,perhaps later in the year.

For the 24-year-old Rodriguez, just about anything seems possible. There was even talk about a fight with Japan’s Naoya Inoue. That’s a pound-for-pound possibility, one created when Rodriguez crashed the top of the debate.

Bloodied Sunny Edwards wins technical decision

Sunny in Arizona? More like Scarred.

In his second straight fight in the Phoenix area science a bruising stoppage loss in December to Bam Rodriguez, UK flyweight Sunny Edwards sustained a nasty wound near his right eye in a fight eventually stopped because of a cut caused by a head butt.

This time, Edwards won, scoring a 90-82, 88-84, 87-85 technical decision over Adrian Curiel Saturday night at Footprint Center.

“I’m leaving Arizona a lot uglier than I was when I came here,” Edwards (21-1, 4 KOs) said after the flyweight bout.

The clash of heads came in the sixth. It caused a cut, a long deep gash from the inside of Edwards right eye and up along his forehead. Early in the ninth, referee Mark Nelson ended it on advice of the ringside physician.

The crowd booed.

“I’m not any happier than you are,” Edwards said.

Edwards, of the UK,  came out fast, moving side-to-side and forward behind a jab moving at a rapid-fire rate. Curiel (24-6-1, 5 KOs), a former champion from Mexico, didn’t seem to notice, or care. He moved laterally, kept his gloves up in a defensive posture and seemed to wait for an opportunity. It didn’t come.

 Edwards mocked him in the second, pushed him to the canvas with one hand in the third and mocked him again in the fifth. The crowd whistled, then booed. Then, there was the head butt. Edwards immediately responded, going straight at Curiel with a jab and long right hand. But the blood continued to pour from the cut and into his eyei, a sure sign that the fight would be stopped.

Mercado Decisions Ali To Retain Super Bantamweight belt

In the first of two world tittle fight we had Yamileth Mercado (23-3,5kos) of Ciudad Cuauthemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico taking on Ramla Ali (9-1,2kos) of London, United Kingdom. This will mark the first time fighting in the State since 2021 when she took on Amanda Serrano. This marks her 7th tittle defense of her WBC Super Bantamweight belt. Ramla is coming off a win in the rematch with Julissa Guzman last November. Both coming in at weight limit 

In the opening round was not much action with each filling out one another. However Yamileth pulled away with a few more effective punches. Ramla came out more aggressive to start the 2nd round landed a straight left flush to Mercados face. Mercado got her revenge at the end of the round as she appeared to hurt Ali but it was too late as the round ended. 

The fight picked up as both came out swinging and the continued through out the round with both landing good shots. Effortlessly getting the crowd excited in this tittle fight. 

Ali is finding a home with her Jab continuing to land it, as in the fifth it caught Mercado. 

The middle rounds of the fight had bits and pieces of action, no significant punches landing. 

Much of the same as we entered the championship rounds of the fight, Ali did land an over and right and a left hook to edge out the round. 

Yamileth came out swinging for the final round, but ali had an answer for the aggression once again with her neutralizer the left jab. Effectively halting Mercados offense. As the round continued both fighter put it in over drive and gave the fans in the Footprint Center a well deserved ending to the fight. 

Going to the judges as each having Yamileth Mercado winning 98-92, 98-93, and 97-93 getting the unanimous decision. Successfully defending her tittle for the 8th time Mercado stated she now wants to unify the titles. —-David Galaviz

Cardenas escapes with a majority decision

A slow start. A furious finish.

Arturo Cardenas (14-0-1, 8 KOs) opened the DAZN show featuring Bam Rodriguez-Juan Francisco Estrada Saturday looking tentative. He appeared unsure of himself and perhaps his opponent, Phoenix Mexican junior-featherweight Danny Barrios (15–1, 5 KOs).

But he quickly overcame his slow start and, in the end, overcame Barrios.

Midway through the 10-round bout, the Robert Garcia-trained Cardenas began to find his range and used his superior power. Repeatedly, he caught Barrios with left hands and short right-uppercuts. The crowd roared. Then, it booed as Barrios began to retreat, back away from the increasingly aggressive Cardenas in the ninth and 10th.

In the end, Cardenas escaped with a majority decision. He won on two cards, 97-93 nd 96-94. But on the third, it was a draw, 95-95

Gabriel Muratalla stays unbeaten 

Gabriel Muratalla, a workman-like bantamweight from Fontana CA, was all business.

In the end, that’s what he got, a business-like decision, over Carlos Fontes (23-4-1, 5 KOs), a well-conditioned Phoenix fighter,  who lacked enough hand speed to match Muratalla (12-0, 5 KOs) on the scorecard in the third bout on the Bam-Rodriguez card at Footprint Center..

Muratalla, who had Bam trainer Robert Garcia in his corner, scored often, winning a 99-73, 78-74, 77-75 decision 

AZ welterweight Fabian Rojo scores powerful stoppage

Fabian Rojo‘s left hand left no doubt.

No doubt about why he’s unbeaten.

And, on Saturday, it left Daniel Gonzalez with no chance.

Rojo (9-0, 7 KOs), of Glendale AZ, dropped Gonzalez (5-2,2 KOs), of Albuquerque, three times within two rounds, all with his left hand, in the second bout on a card featuring Juan Francisco Estrada versus Jesse “Bam Rodriguez at Footprint Center.

It ended with successive lefts, each moving like pistons in an engine. They landed like pistons, too, finishing Gonzalez at 1:13 of the second round. The crowd, already gathering in Footprint, roared. Even Gonzalez applauded. He got off the canvas and lifted Rojo up in celebration of a fighter who had just overwhelmed him.   

To get the night started Leonardo Rubacalva (7-0 3Kos) of Teocaltich, Jalisco Mexico took on William “Double barrel” Flenoy (3-3-1) of Fresno, CA. The first round was all Leonardo landing at will, stunning flurry a few times. Things picked up in the 2nd with the fight and the crowd, as Leonardo started to put more pressure on his opponent. Midway through the fight Leo landed s very effective punch combination. Not to stay quiet William came with some shots of his own as to say my double barrel is not empty to which earned the respect of Rubacalva. 

Half way through the fight both fighters showed the mutual respect and not much action happen. With 20 seconds in the 3rd, Rubacalva put it in another gear and landed a left hook that took Williams balance away and having going to the neutral corner with Leonardo following him and landing a few more punches before the bell rang to end the round. 

An over hand right that caught everyone by surprise in the arena by Rubacalva other than the big right the 4th round was not much action. 

The fifth round to which the fight lasted this long to many surprised was more of the same as the previous couple rounds a lot of respect and save the action till the last part of the round

The last round both fighters came out trading punches as if both needed to win the round. The way the round started is the way it ended with both fighters leaving it all out in the ring, not saving nothing for tomorrow. All 3 judges scored it for Leonardo 60-54, the other two having it 59-55 earning a unanimous decision improving to 8-0(3Kos). —-David Galaviz

By Norm Frauenheim

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sunny Edwards owned the news conferences.

Jesse Rodriguez owned the ring.

Rodriguez turned that ring into his own bully pulpit, punishing Edwards and then dropping him with a left hand that landed like his nickname, Bam, in the final moments of the ninth round Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena.

In the final second of the ninth, Rodriguez got the last word after a long week full of unfounded accusations. He called Rodriguez a drug cheat. He called him weird.

In the end, he could only call him champ. Edwards, whose corner threw in the towel at 2:59 of the ninth, lost for the first time and lost his International Boxing Federation flyweight title.

Rodriguez (19-0, 15 KOs) added the belt to his collection, including the World Boxing Organization’s version of the 112-pound crown.

At the moment that Edwards’ corner tossed in the towel, Rodriguez fell to his knees and onto his chest. He looked relieved. 

Maybe, that’s because he won’t have to listen anymore to Edwards (20-1, 4 KOs), a little guy with heavyweight Tyson Fury’s big mouth.

The two, Sunny and Bam, embraced in the middle of the ring after it was all over. Sunny promised he’d be back. Bam promised that he was moving back up the scale, in pursuit of the super-fly title he vacated.

It was no coincidence that super-fly (115 pounds) champ Juan Francisco Estrada was in the crowd. It was also no coincidence that Hall of Fame junior flyweight Michel Carbajal was there, too.

Rodriguez showed why he is perhaps the best American in boxing’s lightest weights since Carbajal’s era through the 1990s.

Rodriguez kept his poise early and then slowly began to control the pace and the ring.

A key round was the fifth. That’s when Rodriguez grabbed the momentum At the end of the round, he rocked Edwards onto his heels with a big overhand punch. It was asign of things to come.

In the sixth, Bam opened up a cut under Sunny’s left eye. He drove him into the ropes. Then, he raised both hands over his head, as if to mock Sunny.

The mocking continued. Seconds later, the fighters drifted back toward the center the ring. That’s when Bam stuck his tongue out at Edwards. Edwards, suddenly no longer so Sunny, seemed to respond in anger. He went straight at Rodriguez, a bullish assault from a fighter known for working off his back foot.

It was as if he had forgotten who he was and how he fought.Rodriguez made him forget, mostly because the San Antonio fighter always remembered how to apply the fundamentals that are transforming him into a pound-for-pound contender. 

Murodjon Akhmadaliev restores confidence with solid TKO

Murodjon Akhmadaliev knocked out the doubt.

Knocked out Kevin Gonzalez too.

Akhmadaliev came off an emotionally crushing loss, scoring an eighth-round stoppage  in a junior-featherweight fight that restored his confidence and, he hopes, puts him back in line for a shot at pound-for-pound contender Naoya Inoue.

Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KOs)lost a debatable split decision to Marlon Tapales in April. Tapales used that victory to secure a date against Inoue on Dec. 26 in Japan. For weeks, Akhmadaliev wondered: It could have been me.

Saturday night, he quit agonizing and resumed fighting, knocking down the rugged Gonzalez (20-1-1, 13 KOs) four times — twice in the sixth round and twice in the eight —  for a solid TKO victory at 2:49 of the eighth in the final fight before the Sunny Edwards-Bam Rodriguez main event at Desert Diamond Arena.

“It’s been a long road back,” the Uzbekistani said. “I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder.”

The chip is gone. A bright future is back.

Galal Yafai wins unanimous decision

-He has an Olympic gold medal, an unbeaten record and a lot of work still to do.

Galal Yafai (6-0, 4 KOs), the 2020 Olympic flyweight champion from the UK. Yafai scored a business-like decision over Rocco Santomauro (22-3, 6 KOs) Saturday night on the DAZN portion of the Sunny Edwards-Bam Rodriguez card at Desert Diamond Arena.

Yafai was never in danger of losing. The 99-91, 98-93, 97-93 scorecards, all in his favor, reflect that. He left Santomauro, a Califorina flyweight,  badly bloodied over one eye. But he didn’t do much to convince anyone in the crowd that he’ll be a major flyweight title anytime soon. 

They applauded the victory, then booed him for a dull performance.

Boom, DAZN lives-stream opens with a huge KO

One punch from Ja’Rico O’Quinn kicked DAZN’s live-stream into high-gear.

It happened suddenly.

It landed like an unseen bolt.

Peter McGrail was down, unconscious seemingly before he knew what hit him.

O’Quinn, of Detroit, was losing on the scorecards through the first four rounds Saturday on the first DAZN-streamed fight on a card featuring Sunny Edwards-Bam Rodriguez. McGrail controlled the pace and the punches. 

Then — boom, O’Quinn (8-1, 5 KOs) threw a counter-right that landed like a missile onto the side of McGrail’s face, sending the Brit  (17-1-1, 9 KOs) crashing to the canvas and under the lowest rope late in the fifth round. 

HIs cornermen, ringside physician, and paramedics rushed to help. For a few  scary moments, he simply laid on his  back. Then he was helped, first onto a stool and then to his feet..

“I knew they wouldn’t give me a decision,” O’Quinn said. “He was boxing well. But I seen him try to throw a right to the body. That’s when I countered and — boom — that’s all she wrote

Boom, indeed.

Prospect Arturo Cardenas wins 4th-round TKO

Arturo Cardenas, a Robert Garcia-trained super-bantamweight from Mexico, continued to combine power, precision and poise in his journey from prospect to contender Saturday in a thorough beat down of Carlos Mujica, a Las Vegas fighter who never had much of a chance.

From head-to-body, Cardenas (2-0-1, 8 KOs) landed punches from all angles, leaving Mujica (8-4, 2 KOs) defenseless and finally beaten, a TKO loser at 1:24 of the fourth round in the fourth fight on the Sunny Edward-Bam Rodriguez card. at Desert

 Diamond Arena  

Bostan wins, fans boo in hostile brawl

They exchanged profanities. Then, their respective camps brawled.

Turns out, the hostility at a news conference was real.

Junaid Bostan and Gordie Russ II don’t like each other.

Proof was delivered in a messy, junior-middleweight fight Saturday at Desert Diamond Arena on the Sunny Edwards-Bam Rodriguez undercard. They fought, they brawled, Russ (6-1, 6 KOs) hurt Bostan (8-0, 6 KOs) in the third, Bostan recovered and furt Russ in the seventh and again in the eighth.

Bostan, of the UK, won. The eight-round decision was probably closer than the three scorecards, 79-73. But Bostan’s unanimous decision didn;t settle anything. He stretched out a gloved hand, an offer of congratulations with a fist bump. But Ross, of Detroit, turned his back and walked out of the ring.

He might have been angry at the scoring. Some in the small crowd. They booed, and Bostan encouraged them too while standing at ringside for an interview.

“Go ahead, boo, go ahead,” he said, looking at the unhappy customers.

By then Russ was long gone. 

Albert Gonzalez chops down Molina

That’s exactly what California featherweight Albert Gonzalez (7-0, 3 KOs) did, chopping down Mexican Albert Molina (9-3-1, 5 KOs), who collapsed onto the canvas in evident pain after sustaining a lethally precise body shot late in the second round of the second fight Saturday on a card featuring Jesse Rodriguez-Sunny Edwards at Desert Diamond Arena.

Molina, who rolled around the canvas for several seconds after the punishing shot from the Robert Garcia-trained Gonzalez, got up. But he was finished, a TKO loser at 2:24 of the second.

First Bell: Joe McGrail scores second-round TKO

A card stacked with UK fighters began with a British accent.

Joe McGrail, a featherweight from Liverpool, wasted little time, quickly flashing all of the reasons he’s a prospect with a second round TKO of Carlos Ortiz Jr. Saturday in the opener to a card featuring flyweights Jesse Bam Rodriguez and Sunny Edwards at Desert Diamond Arena.

McGrail (8-0, 4 KOs) dropped the overmatched Ortiz (8-5-2, 4 KOs), of Phoenix, twice in the first round and twice in the second, finishing him with a left hook at 2:40 of the second. 

Jeremiah Nakathila scored the biggest win of his career by stopping former world champion Miguel Berchelt in a scheduled 10-round lightweight bout at The Resorts World Casino in Las Vegas.

In round three, Nakathila dropped Berchelt with a jab. Nakathila continued to apply hard pressure with Berchelt offering little to offset the charging Nakathila. In round six, Nakathila landed a blistering right that sent mouthpiece of Berchelt flying. That was enough to force the fight to be stopped.

Nakathila, 133.6 lbs of Winbook, NAM is 23-2 with 19 knockouts. Berchelt, 135 lbs of Cancun, MEX is 38-3.

Nakathila said, “From the first round, my corner told me to take my time. I know what I have. I knew it would be difficult for him to reach the 10^th round. It wasn’t so easy, but I made it look easy.

“He didn’t really bother me, the way he swung. I just got back to my game plan, and I capitalized.

“Luckily, {he couldn’t continue}. I was going to knock him out or put him to sleep in a bad way. Luckily, he saw it coming and decided he couldn’t come back.”

Added Berchelt, “I’m going to get up. I’m going to rise from this. The great champions are not the ones who fall. The great champions are those who rise, and I will go home, spend time with my family, visit with them, get some rest, and I am going to come back stronger than ever.”

Eduardo Baez Decisions Jose Enrique Vivas

Eduardo Baez won a 10-round majority decision over Jose Enrique Vivas in a featherweight bout.

Baez landed 304 of 783 punches; Vivas was 215 of 818.

Baez, 126.6 lbs of Mexicali, MEX won by scores of 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95 and is now 21-2-2. Vivas, 125.8 lbs of Mexico is 21-2.

Carlos Caraballo won a eight-round majority decision over Luis Fernando Saavedra in a junior featherweight bout.

Caraballo, 120 lbs of Puerto Rico won by scores of 79-73, 77-75 and 76-76 and is now 15-1. Saavedra, 120 lbs of Mexico is 9-7.

2021 U.S. Olympian Tiger Johnson stopped Sebastian Gabriel Chaves in around four of their six-round welterweight bout.

In round four, Johnson dropped Chaves with a right hand. Later in the round, Johnson dropped Chaves with a massive left hand and the fight was stopped at 1:42.

Johnson, 142 lbs of Cleveland, OH is 3-0 with two knockouts. Chaves, 143.2 lbs of Buenos Aires, ARG is 5-4.

Josue Vargas survived two knockdowns and a bite to win an eight-round unanimous decision over Nicolas Pablo Demario in a junior welterweight bout

In round three, DeNario landed a right against an off-balance Vargas that put Vargas on the canvas.

In round five, DeMario dropped Vargas with a hard left. Later in the round DeMario was deducted a point for biting Vargas on the shoulder.

Vargasm 142 lbs of Bronx, NY won by scores of 76-4 twice and 76-73 and is now 20-2. Demario, 141.6 lbs of Buenos Aires, ARG is 15-6-3.

Haven Brady Jr. stopped Juan Angel in round four of a scheduled six-round featherweight bout.

In round four, Brady landed a hard flurry of punches and was able to put Angel down with a double right. Brady finished off Angel by dropping him with an uppercut and the fight was stopped at 2:05.

Brady, 127 lbs of Albany, GA is 6-0 with four knockouts. Angel, 126.6 lbs of Chile is 8-3.

Dante Benjamin Jr. won a four-round unanimous decision over Kevin Johnson in a battle of undefeated light heavyweights.

Benjamin, 173.6 lbs of Cleveland, OH won by scores of 40-36 on all cards is now 2-0. Johnson, 174.4 lbs of Wichita, KS is 2-1.

Juan Hernandez Martinez and Arturo Cardenas battled to a four-round draw in a junior featherweight bout.

Each fighter won a card 39-37 and a third card read 38-38.

Gomez, 123.6 lbs of Gomez Palacios, MEX is 2-0-1. Cardenas, 122.4 lbs of Mexico is 2-0-1

Estevan Partida and Adrian Serrano battled to a four-round draw in a lightweight bout.

In round two, Serrano had blood from his nose.

Each fighter won a card 39-37 and a third card was 38-38.

Partida, 133.6 lbs of Merced, CA is 0-1-1. Serrano, 134.4 lbs of Salinas, CA was making his pro debut.