Those who are familiar with the rivalry between flyweights Sunny Edwards and Galal Yafai know their fight, which will go down on Saturday night, has been, as the fight hype blurb informs us, nine years in the making. Since their amateur days, these two have known there would come a time when they would fight at the pro level, perhaps with a major title on the line.
Saturday’s fight will contest the WBC interim flyweight title, but there will be so much more at stake. Both men are desperate to win, and as Eddie Hearn says, there is “nothing between these two.” That’s as far as talent, skill, and as far as who actually wins goes. But there IS a grudge between these two.
Former IBF champ Edwards, beaten only by Bam Rodriguez at the pro level, feels he will outbox Yafai and even “make him look silly.” Olympian Yafai says he feels he has what it takes to score the KO win on Saturday.
Edwards is 21-1(4), while Yafai, a southpaw and an older man by three years at age 31, is currently 8-0(6).
So, who wins?
Hearn broke it down as follows:
“I honestly can’t split them,” Hearn said to SportsBoom.com. “I don’t think anyone can, with any real confidence or intention. Sunny has been at the top of the tree, but has he had too many hard fights? Galal is fresh and on the way up, but is he too inexperienced to do this one? You can make a case for either of them to win this and that’s what makes it such a great one. It genuinely could go either way, and there is jeopardy for both of them.”
Pick: Yafai to get off to a great start, with him winning the early and middle rounds, with him scoring an early knockdown, and with him then holding on as Edwards comes on strong in the championship rounds. Yafai via close but unanimous decision win.
