By Rob Tebbutt
ROB McCracken has praised Galal Yafai following his dominant sixth-round TKO victory over Sunny Edwards in Birmingham and earmarked the flyweight star as a potential Hall of Fame fighter.
Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) produced the best performance of his career in his dissection of former IBF flyweight champion Edwards (21-2, 4 KOs) on Saturday night, turning what had been billed as an exciting ’50-50′ fight ” in something of a mismatch with a stunning display of pressure wrestling and combination punching.
“Yeah, it was pretty good,” McCracken said BN.
“He had a really, really good training camp, really good competition. It was in really good shape and it had been boxed a few months ago, a few months ago, so it was very sharp.
“I thought it was the right fight at the right time for Galal. Frank Smith brought it up first, we discussed it for several weeks and then agreed to a deal. Galal was happy with this and pushed his career forward. (He) took it very seriously in preparation and wanted to give a really good performance. I think he’s done that and, obviously, against a top fighter in Sunny.”
Rob McCracken and Galal Yafai
With the fight pitting Yafai’s all-action style against Edwards’ fleet-footed, out-of-box skills, the onus is on the Tokyo 2020 Olympian to set the pace from the opening bell – and he would do so with disastrous effect. running out of the blocks and hurting Edwards within the opening thirty seconds of the contest with a right hook to the head.
“He (Yafai’s) is very good at closing the gap.
“He is an Olympic champion. If you’re a British boxer and you become an Olympic gold medallist, you have to be a bit special to close the gap. He (Yafai) knows how to close the gap.
“Sunny is very tough. He got some big shots in there and was answering back the whole way. But when you get hit around the temple and hit with big shots to the body by someone who’s not just relentless, but very fit and knows what he’s doing, it’s very difficult for the opponent.”
Away from Yafai’s performance, one of the biggest talking points to come out of the fight was the behavior of Edwards, 28, who announced his retirement in the ring immediately after the fight.
Having coached both Yafai and Edwards during their time as part of Team GB, McCracken admitted his surprise that Edwards was calling time on his career, but said he hoped to see Croydon return to the ring at some point moment in the future.
“Yeah, it’s a surprise,” McCracken admitted.
“But look, he’s his own man, Sunny Edwards. It always was. I hope, from my perspective, this is not the last we see of him. Perhaps in reflection he will glance at it and think “I can go back and reach the topbecause he has the ability to do it.”
McCracken was, however, adamant in his belief that Yafai has all the necessary tools to reach the top of the sport, even hinting that he felt Yafai could follow in the footsteps of the longtime student, IBHOF inductee and former super middleweight champion . Carl Froch,
“Galal Yafai has delivered again and is going above and beyond.
“He’s motivated, he’s driven and he’s determined – so it’s a really good journey. Me and Lee Pullen, we’ve been working with Galal and Gary Hale, who didn’t make it tonight, and may it continue.
“Galal continues to gain experience at world level and let’s see if, hopefully, he can follow Carl Froch, who was here tonight, he was in the dressing room… let’s see if Galal can follow in Carl’s footsteps and become a world champion, fighting these unification fights and who knows? One day, he (Yafai) could join Carl in the Hall of Fame.”
