Sunny Edwards (21-2, 4 KOs) introduced his retirement after dropping to Galal Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) by a sixth-round technical knockout on Saturday evening of their struggle for the WBC interim flyweight title on the Resorts World Area in Birmingham, England.
(Credit score: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
“I Don’t Need To Be Right here”
The start of the tip tonight got here within the fifth spherical when Yafai unloaded with a barrage of punches in opposition to a trapped Sunny, who was pinned to the ropes, unable to interrupt out on account of being compelled in place by the dimensions of the a lot bigger man.
Within the sixth, Yafai bulled Sunny to the ropes once more and teed off with an unanswered flurry, leaving the referee with no selection however to step in and halt the competition. The time of the stoppage was at 1:10 of the sixth spherical.
Early Indicators Of Bother
Yafai, 31, had Sunny in bother within the opening seconds of the primary spherical, unloading on him with a storm of punches that had the previous IBF flyweight champion in bother. Sunny made it out of the ring however regarded in bother within the second spherical. In between the second and third, Sunny informed his nook, “I don’t need to be right here.”
His coach tried to offer him a pep discuss, however he didn’t reply within the subsequent rounds. Sunny regarded mentally disengaged and unmotivated, and he didn’t present the eagerness for fight that he’d displayed prior to now. The arrogance had been hammered out of him in his ninth-round stoppage defeat in opposition to Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez final 12 months on December sixteenth.
That was an identical struggle to the one tonight. Sunny fought a a lot greater and stronger bam. He couldn’t match up size-wise or within the energy division. Tonight was the identical actual factor. Yafai gained on dimension alone.
As massive as he was, he ought to have been preventing at featherweight in opposition to the likes of Rafael Espinoza as a substitute of Edwards. It was unbelievable how a lot greater Yafai was than Sunny tonight. That may clarify why Yafai regarded so drained at Friday’s weigh-in. He regarded horrible reducing all the way down to 112, like a stick determine.
Edwards simply didn’t have the dimensions or the ability to compete in opposition to the gargantuan-sized Yafai, who regarded like a featherweight [126 lbs] contained in the ring tonight.
There was no manner that the tiny Sunny, 28, might cope with the larger Yafai, who used his dimension by pulling him to the ropes repeatedly and maintaining him there by giving onerous shoves.
Yafai’s Humble Victory
“Sunny is a good champion, however I needed to practice my a** off for him. I used to be frightened going into camp, realizing how good Sunny was,” mentioned Yafai to Matchroom Boxing following his sixth-round knockout win over Sunny Edwards tonight.
“That’s how I at all times strategy it. I wished to check him out,” mentioned Yafai about why he began so quick in spherical one. “I feel folks underrated me. I don’t need to brag an excessive amount of, however I gained an Olympic gold [2020]. I used to be up in opposition to the most effective boxers on the earth. The Kazakhs, the Cubans, and nice boxers like Sunny. So, I used to be used to that model.
“It was simply my evening tonight. Possibly on one other evening, Sunny would have beat me. Sunny is a technical boxer; he’s on the high. He’s a former world champion. He’s #1 in Ring Magainze. he bought there for a cause. We had nice spars, however fights are completely different.
“Successful a gold within the Olympics is the most effective achievement I can ever do, however tonight was a greater feeling beating Sunny than truly standing on the rostrum. That’s simply how good Sunny is,” mentioned Yafai.
