2020 Olympic flyweight gold medalist Galal Yafai (8-0, 6 KOs) faces the toughest test of his professional journey so far when he locks horns with former IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards (21-1, 4 KOs) in an all-British clash at BP Pulse LIVE in Birmingham, England this Saturday, shown live worldwide on DAZN.
Edwards, who holds a win over Yafai in the amateurs, is determined to become a two-time world champion after suffering the first loss of his career in a blockbuster unification clash with Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez at the Desert Diamond Arena in Arizona last December.
With the interim WBC world title on the line this weekend, the winner will go on to a likely world title shot in their next fight – but Yafai insists he his solely focused on the job at hand and putting his long-standing rivalry with Edwards to bed once and for all.
“We knew we’d get to this stage,” said Yafai. “We both had to do our bit. I became Olympic champion, and he became world champion. We were both on the trajectory to be fighting each other.
“I know he has a story about how he should have been picked for the Olympics, but the reality is I went to the Olympics, and then I went to the Olympics again and won Gold. So, it doesn’t matter to me.
“When I first started boxing, he was one of the first ones that beat me as an amateur, ABA’s at the time – it’s just been brewing since then. It’s not something that I’m that assed about but I’ll say, ‘he beat me on a split decision’. I’ll tell anyone. You’re competing against the best and Sunny was the best in the country.
“Realistically, I’ve got more chance of knocking him out than he has of me, but anybody can be knocked out, and with those little gloves, everyone punches, so I’ve got to be careful and do things the right way.
“I’ve got to be the best version of Galal Yafai. When he boxes he’s a bit more trickier and on the back foot. I come forward and bring pressure. It’s two contrasting styles. I can knock him out, but it doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen.”
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