Is Galal Yafai Ready For Sunny Edwards?
Galal Yafai takes on Sunny Edwards this weekend for the WBC Interim Flyweight Title, but is he ready for this fight?
Yafai arrives into the fight with an 8-0 record, which includes six knockout wins. The 31-year-old is older than Edwards, who is 28. Yafai has much less experience in the pro ranks compared to Edwards, who is 21-1 with four victories by knockout. But Yafai is not to be underestimated. He has had a stellar amateur career. He picked up silver at the 2017 European Championships. That was followed by a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal at the 2019 European Games. His success was capped off when he secured gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He made the decision to turn pro, making his debut in 2022. He appeared on the Lawrence Okolie vs. Michal Cieslak card. He stopped Carlos Vado Bautista in the fifth round to win the vacant WBC International Flyweight Title. He followed that up with his first fight in the US against Miguel Cartagena on the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano card.
Once again, Yafai showed his skills by stopping his man in round two. The success continued this year, having boxed twice. He stopped Agustin Mauro Gauto and Sergio Oliva, respectively. But Edwards has a win over Yafai in the amateurs, giving the latter every incentive to put things right. The lack of professional experience could go both ways.
Yafai’s Chances
Yafai knows there is a blueprint to beat Edwards. The latter was stopped by Jesse Rodriguez last year as Sunny failed to unify at flyweight. Edwards also does not possess knockout power, unlike Yafai. There is also very little to read into their amateur fight since it happened when they were both at the early stages of their career. Yafai also has the physical advantages. He has a height of 5’4″ compared to Edwards at 5’3″. Yafai also has a longer reach at 68″ compared to Edwards’ 60″. If Yafai can implement a good game plan, that may well swing the fight in his favor. Based on his following comments, he was feeling confident.
“I’ve been a pro nearly three years, I think a lot of other fighters have big fights and maybe in less time than that. So I think, Why not? I’m good enough. I’ve sparred him numerous occasions, but if I’d really struggled in those spars, this fight would not be happening, let me tell ya. That tells you enough. Is it different in a fight? Yeah. But we’ll see fight night. I’m excited as much as the fans and anxious to see the outcome,” Yafai said
Full Card
Sunny Edwards vs. Galal Yafai; Flyweight
Conah Walker vs. Lewis Ritson; Welterweight
Kieron Conway vs. Ryan Kelly; Middleweight
Cameron Vuong vs. Gavin Gwynne, Lightweight
Hamza Uddin vs. Benn Norman; Flyweight
Troy Jones vs. Michael Stephenson; Light Heavyweight
Aaron Bowen vs. James Todd; Middleweight
Ibraheem Sulaimaan vs. Marvin Solano; Super Featherweight
Taylor Bevan vs. Greg O’Neil; Super Middleweight
Callum Smith Vs. TBD; Light Heavyweight
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