Bloodline – Sunny Edwars Vs Galal Yafai

We are creeping nicely into the end of 2024 with a push on the three big broadcasters and promoters all having shows in the final Saturdays of this calendar year, with all roads leading to Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II on December 21st.

And the first of the bunch is coming live from DAZN, Matchroom Boxing & Eddie Hearn this Saturday in what looks to be a stunning, all British affair in the Flyweight Division, as Sunny Edwards takes on Galal Yafai in what really is an outstanding match up, and a good card to boot with a mixture of well-known British talent featuring including Kieron Conway, Lewis Ritson, Gavin Gwynne & the anticipated return of Callum Smith.

***Running order for this evenings proceedings.***

Before delving into the aforementioned ‘Bloodline’ show this Saturday evening, I wanted to note down the run in for the end of the month and what the landscape looks like for Boxing fans coming to the end of the year;

Saturday, 30th November – Bloodline – Sunny Edwards Vs Galal Yafai (DAZN/Matchroom Boxing).
Saturday, 07th December – Magnificent 7 (TNT Sport/Queensberry Promotions)
Saturday, 14th December – Collision Course – Jonas Vs Habazin (Sky Sports/Boxxer)
Saturday, 21st December – Reignited – Usyk Vs Fury II (DAZN/TNT Sport/Sky Sports)

Along with the above run in, it is important to mention that Wasserman Boxing had a fight night Channel 5 on Friday 22nd November, which was headlined by Harlem Eubank Vs Nurali Erdogan in a Welterweight clash, and DAZN will have two further shows coming up in the month of December including the GBM Card December 7th featuring Qais Ashfaq, Hughie Fury and Quartermaine vs Bateson and the Annual Matchroom Monte Carlo Boxing Bonanza Saturday, 14th December.

I wanted to mention the above cards as I won’t be previewing or reviewing them along with the DAZN, TNT Sport & Sky Sports shows coming up. I have had a real itch to sit and watch all of the big three UK Broadcasters & Promoters final shows of the calendar year, along with Usyk Vs Fury II, and rank them accordingly. And you’ve guessed it, that’s exactly what I am going to do, as I feel it will be interesting to see which Broadcaster and Promotional Outfit finishes the year strongest leading into 2025 (especially with Matchroom & Queensberry working together on DAZN in 2025). It’s going to be interesting!

And what better place to start than on Saturday night, where we are going to be treated to an outstanding British match up (which also has the WBC Interim Flyweight World Title on the line), in the form of Sunny Edwards Vs Galal Yafai. Billed as ‘Bloodline’, both the Edwards & Yafai families have crossed paths before, being big fighting families, with Sunny Edwards older brother Charlie Edwards once poised to fight Galal Yafais older brother, Kal Yafai. Along with Kal & Galal Yafai, they have a middle Brother, Gamal, who has been a Commonwealth & European Champion at Super-Bantamweight.

It is an interesting dynamic which is billed as bloodline. I had no idea that Sunny Edwards and Galal Yafai fought in the amateurs back in April 2015. It just goes to show that the Edwards and Yafai family do have family ties against one another, and this fight for me really is an outstanding one between them both now they are pairing off in the professional ranks. And with the addition of the WBC Interim Flyweight World Title, it really does add that extra bit of importance to an already outstanding fight.

How does this fight play out? To tell you the honest truth, I have no idea. Both Sunny Edwards and Galal Yafai are outstanding. Although Sunny Edwards is a former World Champion, Galal Yafai is an outstanding Amateur who won Gold in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympics in the Flyweight Division. It really is experience against pedigree. And as they say, styles really do make fights!

***London, UK – June 10: Sunny Edwards v Andres Campos, IBF World Flyweight Title. Sunny Edwards celebrates winning the fight 10 June 2023 Picture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing***

In the respect of Professional experience and World Title obtainment, I am going to start with Sunny Edwards. An incredibly slick and tricky Flyweight, Sunny Edwards isn’t to be undermined, underestimated or even ridiculed (boxing twitter know full well what I am talking about here). And the thing is, although I’m kicking things off talking about Sunny Edwards in a Professional capacity, he too has a very good amateur background. As an amateur he fought out of Repton ABC and later Steel City ABC, winning multiple national championships which included the ABA Juniors in 2013, ABA Youth in 2014 and the ABA Elite in 2015. And he also won silver medals in the GB Junior and ABA Elite Championships in 2012 and 2016.

Winning the IBF Flyweight World Title back in April 2021 against seasoned Pro Moruti Mthalane really was the crowning glory for Sunny Edwards, which followed with four World title defences up until December 2023 where Edwards dared to be great and faced off against Jesse Rodriguez, which was a unification out in Arizona for Rodriguez’s WBO World Title. The fight was stopped after the 8th Round, with the referee calling an end to proceedings. This fight feels like a lifetime ago, and it wasn’t even a year ago! And Edwards has had a fight since then against Adrian Curiel back in June 2024, which Edwards won by Technical knockout. Edwards really isn’t the forgotten man, and this could be proven this evening.

***London, UK: Galal Yafai v Moises Callerosh, International Flyweight Contest. 1 April 2023 Picture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing Galal Yafai beats Moises Callerosh***

Galal Yafai is an outstanding fighter; he really is. After winning Olympic Gold in the Flyweigh Division in Tokyo in 2020, it was a slow turn to the Professional ranks in 2022 at the age of 29. And at the age of 31, he is facing off against a very good professional in Sunny Edwards, but after only 8 professional fights. I think his pedigree as an amateur is what has made this fight happen so quickly and also at the age of 31, now is a perfect time to make it happen.

Yafai has also been active in 2024 and has been on the route of the WBC rankings since 2022. He has the bit between his teeth and has confidence to boot. However, many onlookers could feel that this fight could be slightly too soon for Yafai, but these are the fights we love to see. Again, styles make fights!

Verdict
It’s really tough to be honest. However, I have a niggling feeling Sunny Edwards has something up his sleeve. He is a Wiley old fox, considering he is only 28! He is younger than Galal Yafai, which is mind blowing to me. However, he isn’t older in his career, and Edwards has been there and done that.

I am going to go Sunny Edwards points, in an incredibly entertaining, exciting and close fight.

The undercard is something as well! A great mixture of British talent from past and present showcasing their skills. The ones to look out for include;

Cameron Vuong Vs Gavin Gwynne is a great fight. Similar to the main event regarding styles making fights, but this is age vs experience. Vuong is a slick fighter at Lightweight, and has bags of confidence. Gwynne however is another Wiley old Fox – been there and done it winning the British, Commonwealth & European Lightweight titles, this really is no pushover. I think Gwynne wins this fight! Plus I have a nostalgic love for Gwynne after seeing him grace our screens at Fight Camp.

Kieron Conway Vs Ryan Kelly is a good fight at Middleweight. This is the type of fight that shows you wants to keep going in the sport, with both having a few losses along the way. The vacant Commonwealth Title is on the line, and I am edging towards Conway to use his big night experience to win on points (potential late stoppage).

Chief support comes in the form of Lewis Ritson Vs Conah Walker at Welterweight. It is another nostalgia trip for me whenever I see Ritson back on a card, as the once coined ‘Geordie Golovkin’ had fight fans licking their lips when he burst onto the scene and ran riot at British Level winning the Lightweight British Title in the process. Ups and Downs have come along for the ride, and I really do hope to see him get a stoppage victory tonight against Walker, who Is 13/3 with 1 Draw.

Callum Smith also returns, but early on (he is on as I am writing this). Expect a quick win!

The first of three, and looking forward to seeing what DAZN, Matchroom and Eddie Hearn have on offer! The review will be coming end of the year after Usyk Vs Fury II!

Have a good evening all!