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BBC News
10 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
I wish I was a 6ft 4in heavyweight
Boxing is crowded with contenders bellowing about their greatness long before proving it, but Galal Yafai defies this bravado culture."People on the outside assume boxers are always so confident. Just because I won Olympic gold, they think I must be full of myself – but that's not true at all," Yafai tells BBC Sport."There are times I think 'I can't do this' or 'I might lose that fight'."Yafai believes facing those negative thoughts head-on can neutralise their it is this level-headed approach that may have helped the 32-year-old reach the pinnacle of amateur boxing with that Olympic title and now puts him on the brink of global honours as a years ago, the Birmingham native was juggling boxing training with working shifts at a Solihull car Saturday, he returns home to defend his WBC interim title at the BP Pulse Live Arena against Mexican Francisco Rodriguez could lead to a unification bout with WBA and WBC titlist Kenshiro Teraji and Yafai would not hesitate in travelling to the champion's home turf."I've got a good connection with Japan - I won Olympic gold in Tokyo," he says."Going back there to fight a world champion for a unified title would be incredible. I'd absolutely be up for it." The flyweight working hard for recognition Yafai's dominant win over former world champion Sunny Edwards in November boosted his profile and strengthened his case to become Britain's latest global boxing star."After what I did against Sunny, I've got a few more people watching me," he says. "Not just beating him - but how I beat him.""It wasn't a hard fight, six rounds which were comfortable for me. I had a little holiday a week or so later and was then back in the gym."Yet Yafai is under no illusions about where he sits in boxing's hierarchy of public rarely top the billing on fight nights or dominate headlines and are often overshadowed by the sport's bigger men."We don't get the plaudits. I wish I was 6ft 4in and a heavyweight," Yafai adds with a wry smile."But I'm fine having to do double the work of middleweights and heavyweights to get the recognition." Small frame, big ambitions – Yafai targets world glory Yafai is expected to overcome Rodriguez Jr, a former strawweight world champion with 39 wins, six losses and one previous contest was changed from a points win to a no-contest. BBC Sport contacted the Texas boxing commission for clarity, while Yafai says he is also unsure of the reasons."You get those weird stories in boxing," Yafai says. "But he's a tough, proven fighter and all I can do is focus on what I have do. I'm sure that'll be enough on the night."Beyond Rodriguez, a showdown with Teraji awaits. There is perhaps an even bolder move - stepping up to challenge Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez, the American two-weight world champion who stopped Edwards in 2023."Bam's a great fighter and I'm not deluded, I'd probably do myself an injustice going up to face a champion like him," Yafai says."But I was ringside when he stopped Sunny and I saw enough to know how I could beat him."For now, though, the target remains clear."First, I must win on Saturday," Yafai says. "And then can I go on and win a world title."When I retire from boxing, I want to sit back and say I was Olympic champion and world champion. That's the legacy I'm chasing."
The Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Galal Yafai vs Francisco Rodriguez Jr: Start time, live stream, TV channel, tickets and full card for huge title fight
OLYMPIC gold medalist Galal Yafai and Francisco Rodriguez Jr have been drafted in to headline a huge Birmingham bill - and the WBC interim World Flyweight title is on the line! Shabaz Masoud's bout against Peter McGrail was the initial main event before Masoud withdrew due to a training injury. 1 Meaning that even more eyes will be on champ Yafai to see whether he can extend his impressive 9-0 record. The Englishman's last dance ended with him blowing away Sunny Edwards in six rounds who immediately announced his retirement after the November 2024 fight. And Yafai has been tipped to retain his crown against Rodriguez Jr, particularly with his strong knockout record of seven in nine encounters. However, his Mexican opponent Rodriguez Jr has a staggering 45 fights under his belt, so he knows a thing or two about navigating around the ring. When is Yafai vs Rodriguez Jr? Gala Yafai vs Francisco Rodriguez Jr will take place on Saturday, June 21. The ring-walks are scheduled for approximately 10:15pm BST with the first bell expected to go off 15 minutes later at 10:30pm BST. Coverage of the main card should get underway from 7pm BST. BP Pulse LIVE in Birmingham is the chosen venue for this huge event and it can host approximately 15,685 spectators. What TV channel is Yafai vs Rodriguez Jr on and can it be live streamed? Galal Yafai vs Francsico Rodriguez Jr will be broadcast LIVE on DAZN. The whole fight card will stream live on DAZN in over 200 countries across the globe via a DAZN subscription. If you are not currently a DAZN member, then monthly and annual subscription options are available to watch over 185 fights a year across boxing, bare knuckle boxing, MMA and kickboxing. An Annual Super Saver subscription is a one-off payment of £119.99 / $224.99 for 12-months access (£14.99 / $19.99 per month if paying in monthly instalments). A Monthly Flexible pass, which can be cancelled at any time, is £24.99 / $29.99 per month. Yafai vs Rodriguez Jr FULL card What has been said? Galal Yafai has had to battle his way to the top, and he has his eyes set on a huge world title fight. The WBC champ said 'It's been a long journey to just get here. 'It's not finished yet, not even close.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
The memories and scars that brought Galal Yafai to the edge of glory
It has been a hard road for Galal Yafai, from being the baby boxer in the family to winning a gold medal at the Olympics, and now being the main attraction in his hometown. On Saturday, at Resorts World on the outskirts of Birmingham, Yafai defends his WBC interim flyweight title against the Mexican Francisco Rodriguez Jr. It is not an easy fight, it's a difficult fight. A real fight. • Yafai is now 32, this will still only be his 10th professional fight, but his amateur career was long and established; he fought and lost at the Rio Olympics, and then in 13 days of glory, he won five times in Tokyo in 2021 to win a gold medal. It is arguably the best gold-medal streak in British history. Every single one of the bouts was hard; Galal fights that way. Yafai was the youngest and smallest of three fighting brothers; that can be a constant battle. His two brothers could both really fight: Khalid went to the 2008 Olympics, won a British title and was world champion at super-flyweight; Gamal won the European and Commonwealth titles as a professional. All three brothers won international medals. Khalid was, in 2005, just the second British boxer to claim any version of a world amateur title when he won the under-17 world championship in Liverpool. They are one of the world's great fighting families. 'It's been a long journey to just get here,' Galal said. 'It's not finished yet, not even close.' Last November, Yafai stopped former world champion Sunny Edwards in the best pairing of two British flyweights for close to 40 years. That night, he sent a fine boxer into retirement. The WBC's interim belt was the official bounty on the night, but the real prize was pride and respect. Edwards had beaten Yafai in 2015 over three rounds and had always been critical of Yafai's selection for the Rio Olympics in 2016. When Yafai was selected, he was working at Land Rover – he was always a long, long shot for a medal in Rio. That was not the plan the men making the selection had; they had an agenda for gold in Tokyo. Yafai hated leaving Rio without a medal in the summer of 2016, but decided to stay for one more Olympic cycle. In early March 2020, he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, but just 14 days later, as Covid slowed the world, the Olympics were postponed, pushed back indefinitely at a cruel time of endless unknowns and sudden deaths. It looked like Yafai had lost his window, lost his chance. The delay broke a lot of fighters. The boxing business stopped, the Olympic dream was gone in a tumble of real concerns. But Yafai decided to wait, to be patient, to keep dreaming that Olympic dream. It was not easy, and not everybody did the same. 'I had to stay and hope it happened,' said Yafai. 'I had worked so hard, I had qualified, I was ready, and then there were lonely months of waiting for news.' The British boxers prepared in isolation, but under the relentless and watchful eye of the GB coaches. It was remote, but it worked. The squad won six medals, reaching four finals in a record haul. They had a hunger from the very start, a desire as a team to succeed. In Tokyo, at the games of isolation and paranoia, Lauren Price and Yafai won gold. It was the old-fashioned dream ending – one that had looked in doubt. The risk of waiting and the Olympics being scrapped was very real, but Yafai and Price gambled and won. Yafai was a giant in Tokyo, unstoppable – and had the Val Barker Trophy for the best boxer been available, he would have been a real contender. As a professional, Yafai has been moved fast, matched hard, and has gained some crucial rounds of experience. Rodriguez Jr will give him more rounds and a test. The Mexican has lost six times, mostly on the road in fights where the odds were massively stacked against him. He has lost world title fights on points in the Philippines and Japan. And three years ago, he went the full 10-round distance with Junto Nakatani, the double world champion, also in Japan. He is unbeaten in four since then and is the same age as Yafai. 'It's another fight, another test,' said Yafai. 'I'm getting closer, and this is the attitude I had in Tokyo. This is no different, it's just a fight, and then I move on.' The top boxers all learn from the years in obscurity on the international circuit, fighting over five rounds in Kazakhstan against Cubans, winning a gold at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, getting a bad decision in Ukraine and having to box four and five times at tournaments just to get a medal. Yafai and his brothers have those memories and those scars – now the baby in the family can go on and become a very big star in modern boxing. His two brothers will be by his side, obviously.
