Galal Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) used size, power, and rapid-fire combinations to stop Sunny Edwards (21-2, 4 KOs0 in the sixth round to claim the WBC Interim flyweight title on Saturday night at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
There was a lot of shoving going on with Yafai, forcing Edwards against the ropes and keeping him there by pushing him when he would attempt to move. The referee was fine with the shoving, so Yafai used it as a tool to win tonight. He would have won anyway because he was so much bigger than the tiny Edwards. It was like watching a super bantamweight fight a flyweight. Yafai had a massive size advantage over Sunny.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing )
Results
– Welterweight Conah Walker (14-3-1, 5 KOs) easily beat Lewis Ritson (23-5, 13 KOs), winning a one-sided ten-round unanimous decision in the chief support bout. Walker, 29, stayed on top of Ritson, crowding him and throwing punches without letting up.
If Ritson had better power, he’d have taken advantage of Walker’s nonexistent defense, but he didn’t have enough pop in his punches to take him out. The judges’ scores were 98-93, 97-93 and 97-93.
In the tenth round, Ritson caught Walker with two hooks that landed behind his head, wobbling him for a second to where he looked vulnerable. That came near the end of the round when Ritson was backed against the ropes.
He didn’t take advantage of the moment because he chose to stay against the ropes rather than surging forward to try and score a come-from-behind knockout.
Despite winning, Walker looked nothing special, just an average domestic-level fighter, and showed no improvement from his recent 10-round unanimous decision loss to Lewis Crocker on June 22nd. It’s hard to believe that Walker vs. Ritson was the co-feature in tonight’s card because it didn’t deserved better.
– Kieron Conway (22-3-1, 6 KOs) utilized activity and pressure to defeat Ryan Kelly (19-5-1, 8 KOs) by a 12-round split decision to win the Commonwealth middleweight belt. There wasn’t much to separate these two fighters, but the Judges’ went with Conway’s superior work-rate. The scores were 116-112, 115-113 Conway, and 115-114 Kelly.
– Lightweight Cameron Vuong (7-0, 3 KOs) had his toughest career test tonight, barely edging out Gavin Gwynne (17-4-1, 5 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision. Both guys were throwing nonstop punches, and Vuong did just a little bit better work to get the razor-close decision.
Gwyne was cut under both of his eyes from numerous shots that Vuong had him with. The judges’ scores were 96-95, 97-94, and 96-94.
– BBBofC English light heavyweight champion Troy Jones (12-0, 6 KOs) defeated Michael Stephenson (9-3) by a ten-round unanimous decision. Jones threw nonstop light shots to get the better of Stephenson in a competitive but one-sided fight. The judges’ scores were 98-91, 98-91 and 97-93.
– Super middleweight prospect Aaron Bowen (29-5, 4 KOs) knocked out James Todd (4-4-2) in the fifth round. Bowen, 25, sent Todd to the canvas in the round with a left to the midsection.
Moments before, Bowen had been landing shots at will against the hurt and tired Todd. Even if Bowen hadn’t dropped him with a body shot, he was going to knock him out with a headshot because he was reeling.
The fight was waived off after Todd failed to beat the count. The time was at 1:46 of the fifth. In the second, Todd dropped Bowen with a perfectly placed left hook to the head.
– Super featherweight prospect Ibraheem ‘Spider’ Sulaimaan (6-0, 4 KOs) looked impressive, scoring a quick second-round knockout win over Marvin Solano (24-21, 8 KOs). In round two, Sulaimaan flattened the 34-year-old Nicaraguan Solano with a hard left to the body. The referee then stopped the fight. The official time was at 2:54.
– Making his pro debut, former amateur star, light heavyweight Taylor Bevan (1-0, 1 KOs) crushed veteran Greg O’Neill (7-9-1, 1 KOs), dropping him twice to score a second-round knockout. The time of the stoppage was at 2:40 of the round. O’Neill caught Bevan with a big shot moments before getting dropped for the knockout. Luckily for Bevan, O’Neill isn’t a big puncher because he was fighting recklessly.
– Former WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs) knocked out journeyman Carlos Galvan (20-5-2, 19 KOs) in round five of a scheduled eight-round contest on the preliminary portion of the card.
Smith sent Galvas, 33, to the canvas three times in the fight, dropping him once in round four from a left hook to the head and twice more in round five with lefts to the body. The time of the stoppage was at 1:19 of round five.
On DAZN at 2:00 pm ET: Main card
Sunny Edwards (21-1, 4 KO) vs Galal Yafai (8-0, 6 KO)
Conah Walker (13-3-1, 5 KO) vs Lewis Ritson (23-4, 13 KO)
Kieron Conway (21-3-1, 6 KO) vs Ryan Kelly (19-4-1, 8 KO)
Cameron Vuong (6-0, 3 KO) vs Gavin Gwynne (17-3-1, 5 KO)
Hamza Uddin (2-0, 1 KO) vs Benn Norman (7-5, 0 KO)
On the preliminary card is light heavyweight Callum Smith (29-2, 21 KOs) facing Carlos Galvan (20-14-2, 19 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Matchroom didn’t choose to place this fight on the main card for obvious reasons. The former WBA super middleweight champion Smith, 34, is expected to score a fast knockout.
Edwards (21-1,4 KOs) lost his IBF belt last year, losing to Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez by a ninth-round stoppage on December 16th. If Edwards, 28, wins tonight, he’ll be in a position to fight for the WBC flyweight belt in 2025.
2016 Olympian Galal Yafai (8-0, 6 KOs) is facing his first talented point of his two-year career, battling Edwards, and it’s going to be interesting to see how he deals with the jump up in competition. Yafai isn’t young at 31, and he needs to speed up his career if he wants to accomplish anything before he ages out.
Former IBF World flyweight champion Sunny Edwards will attempt to revive his career tonight, facing unbeaten Galal Yafai in a 12-round dust-up for the WBC interim 112-lb belt from the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England. The card will be shown live on DAZN, beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.
