By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/galal-yafai-vs-sunny-edwards-betting-odds-and-prediction/25901/
Former IBF Flyweight Champion Sunny Edwards of England will be taking on unbeaten fellow countryman Galal Yafai for the Interim WBC Flyweight Title this Saturday, November 30th. The 12-rounder from Yafai’s hometown of Birmingham can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Edwards won his belt in April, 2021 via a unanimous decision over Moruti Mthalane and defended it four times before being halted in the ninth round by WBO Flyweight Champion Jesse Rodriguez last December. He then bounced back in June with a nine-round technical decision over Adrien Curiel. Gafai, a gold-medal flyweight winner at the 2021 Olympics in Japan, last fought in September and stopped Sergio Orozco Oliva in the third round.
The 31-year-old Yafai is a southpaw who climbs through the ropes with a perfect mark of 8-0 with 6 Ko’s and has boxed just 43 rounds since making his pro debut in 2022. He measures 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 68-inch reach and enjoyed a fine amateur career as he captured a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships as well as a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a bronze medal at the 2019 European Games and of course the gold medal at the 2021 (2020) Olympics.
He also boxed at the 2016 Olympics In fact, he fought Edwards back in 2015, early in his amateur days, and dropped a three-round split decision to him in the English National Elite 49 kilogram semi finals. As a pro, Yafai hasn’t faced any contenders as of yet and will be taking a step up in class against Edwards.
He won the vacant International Flyweight Belt in his pro debut with a fifth-round TKO over Carlos Vado Bautista and has defended it six times against Agustin Gauto, Rocco Santomauro, Tommy Frank, Moises Calleros, Gohan Rodriguez Garcia and Miguel Cartagena. As far as power is concerned, Yafai has plenty of it as his current knockout ratio clocks in at 75 per cent and he’s stopped four of his last five opponents.
The 28-year-old Edwards enters the fight with an impressive mark of 21-1 with only 4 Ko’s. He’s boxed 179 rounds since turning pro in 2016 after a fine amateur career. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the English Junior & Youth National Championships in 2012, a silver at the Great Britain Junior Championships the same year, a gold at the 2013 and 2014 English Junior & Youth National Championships, gold at the 2015 English ABAE National Championships, bronze at the 2016 Gee-Bee Tournament and silver at the English ABAE National Championships in 2016.
Edwards possesses exceptional boxing skills and he’s needed them so far since he has little in the way of power with a current knockout ratio of just 19.1 per cent. He stands 5-feet-3-inches tall with a 60-inch reach which means he’s giving up an inch in height to Galal as well as eight inches in reach. Since turning pro he’s also won the WBO European, WBO International, IBF International, and BBBofC British Super Flyweight Titles.
Edwards hasn’t really fought any elite world class contenders either other than Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez and he didn’t fare too well as he was halted in the ninth round and well behind on all three scorecards. His biggest wins have been over Curiel, Andres Campos, Felix Alvarado, Muhammad Waseem, Jayson Mama, Ross Murray, Ryan Farrag, Junior Granados, Thomas Essomba, Marcel Braithwaite and Hiram Gallardo.
Prediction…
Both boxers have great skills with Yafai having a decided edge in power as well as reach. In theory, this should enable him to pick Edwards off as he tries to work his way inside. Edwards certainly has faced stiffer opposition as a pro though and is three years younger than Yafai. And although Edwards appears to be light-hitting, his power shouldn’t be underestimated. This is a close call as both men also have good chins even though Edwards has been stopped. It should be an all-action affair and I can see it going either way but I’m leaning towards Edwards in this case even though Yafai is hoping to avenge his defeat in the amateurs. .
