The lovely science of pugilism returns to Birmingham live on DAZN this Saturday, which brought about a clash so it could be served British with a side of fish and chips. Let’s dive into this flyweight fracas, shall we?
In one corner we have Galal Yafai, Olympic champion and professional boxing neophyte, strutting into his hometown like a rooster with a shiny new medal. In the other, Sunny Edwards, former world champion and amateur boogeyman for our golden boy.
The contenders
- Galal “I have an Olympic gold, did I mention that?” Yafai (8-0, 6 KOs)
- Sunny “I beat him once, I’ll do it again” Edwards (21-1, 4 KOs)
A rivalry as old as time (well, almost)
Our pugilistic pair have a history dating back to their amateur days. Edwards, it seems, gave young Yafai his first taste of defeat. Yafai, ever the gracious loser, recalls: “When I first started boxing, he was one of the first to beat me back then as an amateur, ABAs – it’s only been brewing ever since. It’s not something I’m too concerned about not crazy, but I will say, ‘he beat me on a split decision’.” One can almost feel the nonchalance flowing from his words.It’s clearly water under the bridge, isn’t it?
Start times:
British Time (GMT)
- Start time: 16:15
- Leads: 16:15
- Main Card: 7:00 p.m
- Main event: 22:50
Eastern Time (ET)
- Start time: 11:15
- Tentative: 11:15
- Main Card: 2 p.m
- Main event: 17:50
Confidence: The Breakfast of Champions
Yafai, full of confidence that only an 8-0 professional record can bring, boldly proclaims: “Realistically, I have a better chance of knocking him out than he has of me, but anyone can be knocked out, and with those little ones. gloves, everyone hits, so I have to be careful and do things the right way.” Ah yes, the classic “I could knock him out, but I won’t because I’m careful” strategy. A timeless classic in the world of boxing bravado.
The prize: A shiny belt and bragging rights
At stake is the interim WBC world title, a coveted piece of leather that’s almost as good as the real thing. The winner gets a shot at the actual world title, which is like being promoted from assistant to regional manager to assistant regional manager.
The Undercard
As if this main event wasn’t enough to satisfy Birmingham’s boxing fans, the undercard is packed tighter than a can of Quality Street at Christmas. We have former champions, up-and-comers and everything in between.
- Sunny Edwards vs. Galal Yafai
- Conah Walker vs Lewis Ritson; Welterweight
- Kieron Conway vs Ryan Kelly; for vacant Commonwealth middleweight title
- Cameron Vuong vs. Gavin Gwynne, Lightweight
- Hamza Uddin vs Benn Norman; Flyweight
- Troy Jones vs. Michael Stephenson, for Jones’ English light heavyweight title
- Aaron Bowen vs James Todd; Middle weight
- Ibrahim Sulaimaan vs. Marvin Solano; Super featherweight
- Taylor Bevan vs Greg O’Neil; Super middleweight
- Callum Smith vs. TBD; Light heavyweight
