On Saturday night in Arizona, British flyweight Sunny Edwards suffered the first defeat of his pro career when he was stopped after nine rounds of action in his WBO, IBF unification clash with Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez.

During the ninth, a straight right hand dropped Edwards hard to the mat. The 27-year-old made it up, but his corner waved off the fight before the start of the tenth.

As early as the second round, the left eye of Edwards was swelling up rapidly. By the ninth, he had damage around both eyes and several cuts to deal with.

Edwards would later reveal that his left eye sustained a fractured orbital bone.

The injury affected his vision, and he couldn't see some of Rodriguez's punches coming.

"This is a hell of a fighter. My tricks that usually get me out of the way of shots, he was getting on to them. I just couldn't see. From the second round, my eye was completely blurry and from about round six I got cut. It was getting hard in there, more through the vision," Edwards told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"I'm bitterly disappointed, but grateful to be in the main event. Flyweight boxers, we don't get this. I'll be back. Boxing is all I've got. Just a bit disappointed my eye went so early on. But, yes, no excuses from me."

Edwards has the ability to rebuild his career, with Rodriguez set to jump back to 115-pounds to pursue a fight with Juan Francisco Estrada.

For Edwards, there are possible fights at the weight with WBA champion Artem Dalakian, WBC champion Julio Cesar Martinez, and, of course, the scenario of fighting for one of the vacant belts that Rodriguez leaves behind.