British flyweight contenders Sunny Edwards and Galal Yafai are set to engage in a pivotal domestic battle on November 30th at the BP Pulse Arena (previously Resorts World Arena) in Birmingham, UK, but there was initially some backlash from Yafai’s own trainer, Rob McCracken, according to Edwards during a recent interview with Boxing King Media.
Despite the perceived talent of both flyweights (112 lbs), an air of mystery surrounds the upcoming November 30th event due to the wide gap in experience level between Sunny Edwards (21-1, 4 KO’s) and Galal Yafai (7-0, 5 KO’s). Whereas Edwards has already been in several world title fights and complemented his own career as an IBF world champion for several years, Yafai seems grossly inexperienced in comparison, having just five fights under his belt.
While Yafai is not exactly an anomaly in this regard, with other prevalent amateur fighters such as Vasyl Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KO’s), Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KO’s) and Israil Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KO’s) having become a world champion in less or around 10 professional fights, there are some questions surrounding his capability to compete against a top-rated contender in Edwards.
Though the upcoming Edwards-Yafai fight has not been ruled a title fight, it is one of particular significance given both fighters are considered top 10 112-pound contenders and the winner would supposedly gain a title shot according to Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn.
According to Edwards, however, Yafai’s trainer, Rob McCracken―former trainer of Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KO’s, was initially against the idea of Yafai fighting Edwards and had minced words with other promoters for Matchroom allegedly “pressuring” Yafai into the match-up.
“So, I wanted Sheffield but I was happy with Birmingham,” Edwards stated to Boxing King Media when asked about his preferred venue. “I know for a fact I’d sell better [in Sheffield] than Galal [Yafai] does in Birmingham. All this shouting [from Yafai] about, ‘He’s not a superstar’… I’ve never said I was a superstar, not once.
“Thank God there’s someone like me in the [112 lbs] division otherwise there wouldn’t be the money that he’s getting paid. They wouldn’t even get the contract they got [now]. ‘Sunny’s not a superstar, Sunny’s not this, Sunny’s not that’, Sunny’s got a bigger name than all three of the [Yafai] brothers put together.”
After clarifying that his own reputation within the sport had allowed for the fight to materialize, which would help Galal Yafai earn a higher purse than normal, Sunny Edwards went on to reveal Yafai’s trainer had been against the fight.
“Now, when you’re asking questions, if you interview Rob McCracken, his [Yafai’s] trainer, ask him what promoters he was getting on the phone [with] complaining about Matchroom pressuring Galal going into this fight,” Edwards continued. “You ask him that question. And then if he tries to lie, then I’ll go further, but I don’t think he’ll answer the question.“
The possibility of Matchroom actually coercing or pressuring Galal Yafai into a fight with Sunny Edwards is reminiscent of how Boxxer, another UK-based promotion, appears to be using similar tactics to pressure their fighters out of purse bids.
The alleged pressuring by Matchroom would certainly be considered sinister if there was validity to it, though the legality of what they did can vary from country to country. In any case, Matchroom’s alleged attempts seems to point at a sense of desperation or pressure to deliver eyecatching bouts.
Interestingly, Edwards’ revelation is compounded by the fact that he would have insider knowledge being he is signed to Matchroom like Yafai himself.
