One crucial attribute needed to compete with Galal, says brother

KAL YAFAI says future opponents of his brother Galal need to possess power if they are to contain him.

Galal, 9-0 (7 KOs), produced a career breakout performance to stop former IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards, 21-2 (4 KOs), in six rounds. The writing was on the wall from the beginning when the unbeaten contender flew out the traps, ensuring Edwards could not get into any sort of rhythm.

At the end of round two, however, Edwards confessed to his trainer, Chris Williams, “I don’t want to be here.” The 28-year-old dug deep and fought on but didn’t have enough in his arsenal to stop Yafai doing what he does best.

“To hold Galal off you’ve got to be able to bang,” Kal told Boxing News afterwards.

“With Galal if you can’t punch he’s going to smother you and I don’t think Sunny can. He knows what Galal’s capable of.”

Kal, a former WBA super flyweight champion, had predicted the fight would go to round eight before his brother triumphed.

“He’s just an animal,” he said of Galal. “He’s just a little beast and it went exactly how we thought.”