Galal Yafai

Galal Yafai
جلال يافعي
MBE
(2016)
Born (1992-12-11) 11 December 1992
Birmingham, England
Statistics
Weight(s)Flyweight
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Reach68 in (173 cm)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights10
Wins9
Wins by KO7
Losses1
Medal record
Men's Amateur boxing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
2020 Tokyo Flyweight
European Games
2019 Minsk Flyweight
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
2018 Gold Coast Light-flyweight
European Championships
2017 Kharkiv Light-flyweight

Galal Yafai (Arabic: جلال يافعي; born 11 December 1992) is an English professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) interim flyweight title from November 2024 to June 2025.

As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships; gold at the 2018 Commonwealth; bronze at the 2019 European Games; and gold at the 2020 Olympics.

Early life

Yafai was born to Yemeni parents. He is the younger brother of boxers Kal Yafai and Gamal Yafai.[1] Yafai was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for his services to boxing.[2][3]

Amateur career

While representing England in the light-flyweight division, the southpaw won a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships and gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and bronze while representing Great Britain in the flyweight division at the 2019 European Games. He also competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

At the 2016 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Samsun, Turkey, Yafai defeated Samuel Carmona Heredia of Spain by unanimous decision in his semifinal to secure his place in the 2016 Olympic.[4][5] He won his round of 32 fight defeating Simplice Fotsala of Cameroon. He lost his Round of 16 fight to Joahnys Argilagos of Cuba.

In May 2019, Yafai was selected to compete at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, Belarus.[6] He also competed at the 2019 World Championships in Yekaterinburg, Russia,[7] where he lost by unanimous decision to Billal Bennama in the quarter-finals.[7] He qualified to represent Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics,[8] where he won the gold medal in the flyweight division beating Carlo Paalam of the Philippines in the final.[9]

Professional career

Early career

Yafai faced Carlos Vado Bautista for the vacant WBC International flyweight title on 27 February 2022, in his professional debut, on the undercard of the Lawrence Okolie and Michal Cieslak cruiserweight title bout.[10] He captured the regional title by a fifth-round technical knockout, as Bautista's corner decided to throw in the towel near the end of the round.[11]

Yafai successfully defended his WBC International flyweight title against Miguel Cartagena on 30 April 2022, in his United States debut, on the undercard of the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano title unification bout, via a second round corner retirement.[12]

On April 6, 2024 in Las Vegas, Yafai stopped Agustin Mauro Gauto in the eighth round and retained his WBC International flyweight title.[13] Yafai stopped Sergio Oliva in round three at Canon Medical Arena in Sheffield, England, on 28 September 2024.[14][15]

WBC interim flyweight championship

Yafai faced Sunny Edwards for the interim WBC flyweight title at Bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham, England on November 30, 2024.[16][17] Yafai won the fight by TKO in the sixth round.[18][19]

Yafai was scheduled to make his first defence against veteran, former mini flyweight world champion Francisco Rodríguez Jr. (39-6-1, 27 KOs). The fight went to purse bids, with a winning bid of $222,000 by sole bidders Matchroom Boxing in March 2025.[20] In April, the card was announced to take place at the BP Pulse LIVE, with Shabaz Masoud vs. Peter McGrail as the headline on 21 June 2025.[21] Masoud was forced to withdraw from his fight, pushing Yafai and Rodríguez to main event.[22]

Yafai lost the belt and his unbeaten professional record via a lopsided unanimous decision. The scorecards read 119-108, 119-108, and 118-109 all in favour of Rodríguez. He applied a non-stop attack from the beginning, while Yafai was never allowed to get close to hurting him. Yafai showed a lot of heart to hear the final. By mid fight, both boxers were cut around the eyes. Yafai was dropped in the seventh round, only for the referee to not call it a knockdown. it was evident from here that Yafai needed a stoppage, but he could not keep up with the pace Rodríguez had set. Prior to the ninth round, both men were checked over by the ringside doctor. Yafai was dropped in the twelfth round, but beat the count. His trainer Rob McCracken had the towel in his hands from this point, but allowed his boxer to hear the final bell.[23][24]

Yafai's promoter Eddie Hearn argued allowing Yafai to continue taking heavy shots later in the fight. He said, “It's difficult. Maybe once you get to [Round] 10 or 11 and there isn't really … it's not looking like there's a way back in the fight. I mean, I looked over at Rob McCracken, he had his towel in the 12th round ready to go in, and obviously when he got dropped, but Galal did a good job of holding. But he took a lot of punishment in the last part of the fight.” Rodríguez was now the mandatory for full champion Kenshiro Teraji.[25] Rodríguez threw over 1000 punches, landing over half of them. CompuBox showed Rodríguez landed 575 of 1089 punches thrown (53%), a flyweight record and Yafai connected with 230 of his 795 thrown (34%).[26][27]

On 9 July 2025, Matchroom Boxing revealed that Rodríguez had tested positive in his post-fight anti-doping test, administered by VADA. He returned an "adverse analytical finding" according to the statement.[28][29]

Professional boxing record

10 fights 9 wins 1 loss
By knockout 7 0
By decision 2 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
10 Loss 9–1 Francisco Rodríguez Jr. UD 12 21 Jun 2025 bp pulse LIVE, Birmingham, England Lost WBC interim flyweight title
9 Win 9–0 Sunny Edwards TKO 6 (12), 1:10 30 Nov 2024 bp pulse LIVE, Birmingham, England Won vacant WBC interim flyweight title
8 Win 8–0 Sergio Oliva TKO 3 (10), 1:49 28 Sep 2024 Canon Medical Arena, Sheffield, England
7 Win 7–0 Agustin Mauro Gauto TKO 8 (10), 2:40 6 Apr 2024 Fontainebleau Las Vegas, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. Retained WBC International flyweight title
6 Win 6–0 Rocco Santomauro UD 10 16 Dec 2023 Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, Arizona, U.S. Retained WBC International flyweight title
5 Win 5–0 Tommy Frank TKO 1 (10), 1:40 19 Aug 2023 Uilita Arena, Birmingham, England Retained WBC International flyweight title
4 Win 4–0 Moisés Calleros TKO 4 (10), 0:44 1 Apr 2023 The O2 Arena, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Gohan Rodriguez Garcia SD 10 5 Nov 2022 Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Retained WBC International flyweight title
2 Win 2–0 Miguel Cartagena RTD 2 (10), 3:00 30 Apr 2022 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. Retained WBC International flyweight title
1 Win 1–0 Carlos Vado Bautista TKO 5 (10), 2:11 27 Feb 2022 The O2 Arena, London, England Won vacant WBC International flyweight title

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Galal Yafai.

References

  1. ^ "Boxing: Yafai brothers packing a punch for Birmingham". Birmingham Mail. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  2. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N26.
  3. ^ "New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021.
  4. ^ Dennen, John (15 April 2016). "Galal Yafai and Qais Ashfaq win Rio 2016 places". Boxing News. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Olympic boxing: Nicola Adams among eight British qualifiers for Rio 2016". BBC Sport. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Team GB squad announcement for the European Games". Team GB. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Thirteen boxers from GB Boxing squad selected to compete at 2019 World Championships in Russia". GB Boxing. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Galal Yafai relieved to have clinched Tokyo 2020 qualification before shutdown". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Boxer Yafai wins gold for Britain". BBC Sport. 7 August 2021.
  10. ^ Dixon, Tris (24 February 2022). "Golden Galal Yafai Says He Wants To "Test Himself" Ahead Of 10-round Debut". ringtv.com. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  11. ^ Lewis, Ron (27 February 2022). "Galal Yafai Stops Bautista in Five, Wins WBC Regional Belt in Pro Debut". boxingscene.com. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  12. ^ Brown, Shaun (8 April 2022). "Galal Yafai Aiming To Impress American Audience On April 30". boxing-social.com. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  13. ^ Iskenderov, Parviz (7 April 2024). "Galal Yafai gets cut, stops Agustin Mauro Gauto in eighth round". FIGHTMAG.
  14. ^ "Yafai remains on track for Edwards fight, stops Oliva in three rounds". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Galal Yafai Stops Orozco With Ease; Sunny Edwards Fight Is Next". 3kingsboxing.com. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  16. ^ Iskenderov, Parviz (2 October 2024). "Sunny Edwards vs Galal Yafai launch press conference face-off". FIGHTMAG.
  17. ^ Donovan, Jake (28 September 2024). "Galal Yafai Halts Sergio Orozco In 3rd Round, Preserves Nov. 30 Sunny Edwards Showdown In Birmingham". The Ring.
  18. ^ "Galal Yafai bullies Sunny Edwards into one-sided stoppage defeat". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  19. ^ "Yafai puts on masterclass to beat Edwards". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  20. ^ "Matchroom Boxing wins promotional rights for Galal Yafai-Francisco Rodriguez". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  21. ^ "Shabaz Masoud and Peter McGrail clash on June 21 in Birmingham". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  22. ^ "Shabaz Masoud Injured, Out Of June 21 Peter McGrail Fight; Ionut Baluta Steps In". RingMagazine.com. 4 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  23. ^ "Briton Yafai stunned by Rodriguez in first pro loss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  24. ^ "Francisco Rodriguez beats up Galal Yafai to earn shot at Kenshiro Teraji". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  25. ^ "Galal Yafai 'Shouldn't Have Been In There' At The End, Claims Hearn — Last 3 Rounds 'Hard To Watch'". RingMagazine.com. 22 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  26. ^ "CompuBox stats: Francisco Rodriguez UD12 over Galal Yafai". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  27. ^ "Yafai dominated by Rodríguez Jr. in title eliminator". ESPN.com. 21 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  28. ^ "Francisco Rodriguez returns 'adverse finding' following tireless victory over Galal Yafai". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  29. ^ "Rodriguez Jr positive for 'adverse finding' after Yafai win". RingMagazine.com. 9 July 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
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