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There was a point when Galal Yafai felt like a man condemned to a normal life.
A late starter to boxing, the Birmingham star made an honest wage packing parcels and delivering boxes of car parts. He did not know what he wanted in life, but he knew what he did not want, and it was not what he was doing.
The Olympic gold medal winner from the 2020 Olympics, who turns 32 next month, headlines the biggest show of the week when he takes on former world champion Sunny Edwards in front of his own Birmingham fans at the Resorts World Arena.
Yafai is 8-0 (6 KOs), but at his age he knows he has left everything late in his bid to become the world’s leading flyweight.
This is his third fight of the year, and he’s boxed three times per Anum since turning over.
It wasn’t always like this; training camps, media obligations, high-level fights.
On the contrary, Yafai was working in a Land Rover factory in Solihull and wondering what life was all about.
“I hated my job,” he recalled “It might have bit me in the arse after saying that I hated it in the newspapers, because they didn’t want to sponsor me afterwards. But I hated it there, I hated being told what to do by the bosses. Even back then, I thought I can’t be getting told what to do my whole life.
“When I got to the Olympics it was brilliant, but when I won gold it was like, this is what I’ve worked hard for and it was surreal. People don’t really see what I had to go through, working hard, just being a normal little working lad and getting shouted at by the bosses, but I’m proud of myself. Whatever happens in the future, I’m proud of myself.”
A fight with Edwards, at some point – a rival he has fought in the amateurs and sparred many times – might have always been seen an obvious fit, but it’s come early. Edwards has already been to the top, and now his role is to make sure Yafai doesn’t get there. Certainly not on Saturday.
Yafai agrees the match is hasty and is, in part, surprised that Edwards agreed to the contest. He also understands that the fight has come fairly early for him, too.
“Yes and no. I would have said yes before, but looking at it now, 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,” Yafai stated. “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.”
The Yafai brothers, including Kal and Gamal, and the Edwards brothers, Sunny and Charlie, have won plenty of titles between them. Charlie and Kal nearly fought several years ago in what would have been an immensely sellable fight between lower weight boxers, but that was before Galal was a pro and, as things turned out, Kal’s last fight in the UK was in 2017.
In the build-up to the biggest fight of Sunny’s career to date, a loss last year to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, Edwards said he was hoping to meet “Bam,” in his early-twenties before he got much better. Does Galal see something similar, with Sunny fighting him after just eight contests?
“Probably, yeah. He’s probably right to be fair, but we all saw he [Rodriguez] was good enough then. But with myself, probably, but then again, I’m not 22 or 23, like ‘Bam’ was. When you’re 22, you’re good. You should be a lot better at 25, 26, when you’re in your peak. I’m 31, 32 in December. I’m probably going to be worse off in three years.”
Yafai grins at that, and adds: “I hope it’s not the case, but on paper you’re probably going to think I’m going to go downhill towards my mid-thirties. But you never know. You see with [Artur] Beterbiev, that hasn’t been the case and hopefully that’s the case for myself.”
As the years went by, with Yafai working his way through the amateur ranks on evenings and weekends and grinding away packing boxes during the day, and with his brothers capturing world and European titles and him learning more about the sport and topping out his outstanding amateur career in Tokyo, he realized he had left things late.
“I always knew I was going to have to get slung in at the deep end. I’m good enough, but I was still gonna have to get slung in at the deep end. I was 28, 29 when I went pro. I was a flyweight. I wasn’t a huge name – like the Jake Pauls of this world – but then again who is?
“So it was always going to be tough, but then again you get compensated with good money, living a great life and things like that. I’m happy to take the jump. My coach [Robert McCracken] is happy. Let’s do it. Let’s see who the better man is on the 30th of November.”
Although Edwards often plays an antagonistic role on social media, he and Yafai have a shared history and there is are no ill-feelings. They know one another well, and while it is unlikely there will be fireworks or tempers that will flare at this week’s media events, both are promising a good fight. Galal knows Edwards away from the brazen personality portrayed via socials.
“I think everyone can see, there’s not a massive grudge,” Yafai continued. “There’s sporting rivalry, which I’m not gonna want to lose to Sunny Edwards, he’s not going to want to lose to Galal Yafai. But the respect’s there. But the respect goes out the window when the bell rings and I’ll be trying to rip his head off and he’ll be trying to box my head off. It should gel for a great fight, from the spars we had definitely.
“I think the phone or the laptop helps people hide [behind social profiles]. We’re always cool. We’ve always been fine. And to be fair, he hasn’t really said much about me in a negative way. We’re sporting rivals, so we’re going to have a few digs here and there, he’s gonna think he’s better and if I’ve struggled in a fight, and he’s said, ‘Ah, you’ve struggled there,’ but it’s sport. Everyone’s the same in sport and he might just publicize it a little bit more. Other than that, we’ve always got along face to face, when we spar, but when we spar, it goes out the window, I don’t care about anything. I’m looking to really do some damage.
“It’s good for sport,” he said of Sunny playing the controversial extrovert. “I don’t begrudge it. But I think you get people like me who are a bit quiet and laid back and a bit wary about what to say and what to think and you get people like Sunny who say what they think. It can bite you in the arse sometimes, but some people like it. It’s just personality and I can’t be like that because it’s not my personality. I was the same before boxing and I’m sure Sunny was the same before boxing as well. Unless it’s an act, but if it is an act, we’re in showbusiness.”
Yafai guesses they’ve sparred around 120 rounds since Edwards won their amateur fight by a split decision in 2015. That was close, and Edwards had been boxing far longer, but Yafai just took to the sport naturally. With his brothers already making their mark, and Kal having fought as a top amateur in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and beyond, Galal was immersed in boxing before he even knew it.
“I was a bit of a natural starting off, I’d had years of being hit and beat up by my brothers which helped me,” Galal smiles. “And then I think it changed really when I fought Sunny.
“When I fought Sunny, I got an assessment [with Team GB] and then I just started to improve and improve. Even when I was working full-time, I was working Monday to Friday and I had to juggle boxing, so people were telling me, ‘You’re gonna be the one, you’re gonna be the best one out of your brothers, you’ve just got to carry on.’ They could see it, but I couldn’t. And it’s shown years later, and even a year later, because I went to the qualifier and I was fighting in the WSB [World Series of Boxing] against the reigning world champion [Temirtas Zhussupov] who I’d watched for hours on YouTube the year before when I was in work and I’d watch his tricks and watch what he’d do and the next year I’m fighting him in the WSB final, and he’s dancing to the ring and I’m thinking, ‘Bloody hell, I can’t be doing too bad.’”
Yafai has not been doing badly since, continuously ticking off bucket-list things that felt out of reach as he toiled in the factory on the outskirts of Birmingham. But Edwards has not been doing badly, either. The former IBF champion rebounded from his loss to ‘Bam’ Rodriguez with a win over Adrian Curiel earlier this year.
“He’s been a world champion, and you’ve got to respect it. You’ve got to respect every fighter,” Yafai went on. “He’s been a British champion, Commonwealth champion, so even to win those titles is a great feat, but to be world champion is a few levels above, and he’s managed to do that, so I’ll always have respect for him. “But people seem to think because he’s not a world champion any more, he might not be as good. But I’m seeing Sunny, I’m putting him on a pedestal for this fight. I don’t want to think of him as he’s not as good because he’s not a world champion. No, he’s a great fighter. I’d like to think I’m greater. So we’ll see and we’ll settle it on November 30.
“He’s sparred me here and he knows I’m serious. This is when I hadn’t even had a pro fight, so I’m doing the 10 rounds with him easier than he’s doing the 10 rounds. This is before my debut, so I think he knows I’m serious. He’s confident. He’s gonna be, he’s a top sportsman, and so am I. And we’ll be doing our best to win on that night.”
Both Edwards brothers have been world champions and the Yafais have had careers laden with championship hardware. But is Galal, as many have stated, the best of the three? That is something he won’t say, and he will allow others to have their opinions. But while Sunny and Charlie have often been at odds, the Yafais have been close throughout and remain that way.
“Kal was a world champion, Gamal’s a European champion, people seem to say, ‘Oh, you’re the most talented,’ but I don’t know,” Yafai stated. “I’ve never had competition with my brothers. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t even be boxing so I can only thank them. Even if I was the worst of the three, I wouldn’t care. As long as I’m in my own mind, in my division, in my lane, then I’m happy. They’re my biggest supporters. When I won gold, they were happier for me than I was for myself. That puts everything into perspective. There’s never no rivalry. If I’m the worst of the lot, then I’m happy.”
But, if they support him, detractors may say he has left his run too late in the pros. As such, Yafai is running his career one fight at a time, with no short, medium or long-term plans other than getting beyond Edwards on Saturday.
“I don’t know how far I can get, don’t know how long I’m gonna go for, and I think that mindset has just come from my life in boxing. There was a time when I was working away at 21, 22, and I’m in a factory and I’m hating life, picking up boxes and the next thing I’m on the Great Britain team and going to the Olympics, then I’m winning the Olympic gold,” He explained. “So anything can happen. That’s why I don’t like to think this can happen or that can happen, I just go with it. I train hard. I go to fight, and I just try to enjoy it as much as I can. If I get to world level, become world champion or become unified world champion, then that’s God’s will and brilliant. And, if not, hey-ho, it is what it is. I’m not good enough.
“I started boxing at 18, 19 years old, people didn’t think I’d get to where I am now and look where I am, so anything can happen.
“I’ve been so fortunate. I’ve fought all over the world as an amateur, I fought in two Olympic Games, in Australia, Tokyo and Brazil, everywhere in the world. As a pro I’ve been so lucky and I thank Matchroom for putting me on the Katie Taylor-Serrano bill in Madison Square Garden, in my second fight. That was a blessing, Las Vegas, I’ve fought, I’ve fought in two of the Meccas of boxing so if I retired tomorrow, I’d be happy with where I boxed. Saudi [Arabia]’s obviously a great place to box. It’s not far from where my family come from in Yemen, but I’ve already ticked every box off, I’m happy with everything at the minute. The only box I wanna tick now is being a world champion, and if that’s in Saudi, that’s in England, America, so be it.”
Yafai is ranked No. 4 with the WBC, and 10 by the WBO. He is meeting Edwards, who is No. 3 with the WBC, for the interim title of the full version that is held by Kenshiro Teraji. It’s a talented division, with Anthony Olascuaga, Angel Ayala and Seigo Yuri Akui making up the beltholders.
Yafai is honest when he assesses his targets and states without a hint of a smile of what he wants, “Not the best one, the easiest one.”
Then, he goes on to explain: “You’ve got Kenshiro – whoever wins out of me and Sunny will fight him, and that’s a great fight. He’s a great fighter. If it’s in Japan, I’ve had a lot of success in Japan, but there’s the Mexican, Ayala, and then Seigo Akui, he’s definitely somebody I’d like to fight. He’s probably the easiest one on paper, but none of them are easy. Olascuaga is a great fighter as well, another brilliant fighter from LA, so it’s a great division.
“’Bam’s’ moved up so he’s kind of opened it up a little bit, I think there will be a lot of changes over the next few years. But I don’t really have a preference. The easiest one, then I can fight the best one for a unification. I know boxers don’t like to say that.
“This is for the interim title and then you fight Kenshiro Teraji, and he’s a great fighter, but I don’t look past Sunny. I know it got announced for the interim, I don’t even care about the title. I don’t care. It means more me beating Sunny than the title. It’s great to have a title, but if this fight was for nothing, I’d still be as ecstatic winning it.”
But if victorious and on his way to world titles, he might never have to set foot in a factory again.