Why Galal had to be fast-tracked to glory
Yafai and Rodriguez embrace. Pic: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
THE unexpected, comprehensive defeat of golden boy Galal Yafai presents promoter Eddie Hearn with a dilemma.
The loss to Mexican Francisco Rodriguez on Matchroom’s major Resorts World bill showed Birmingham’s Yafai is not yet ready to claim the world flyweight title.
Yet time is not on the side of the Olympic champion - or Hearn.
Following the wide points loss – 119-108 (twice), 118-109 – a number of fight figures have made contact to express concern Yafai has been pushed too quickly: it was fast-tracking at a dangerous speed and on Saturday night the wheels fell off.
They have not won me over. Yes, the 12 round pounding, with southpaw Galal floored in the final session, was only his 10th professional contest – and he was already WBC “interim” world champ.
But the man is 32: even with today’s sports science, that’s getting on for a flyweight.
Hearn has moved Yafai quickly because he had to.
And that’s why the weekend’s result is such a hammer blow for promoter and fallen fighter. Galal will need time before returning to the ring and could well be 33 when again seeing action.
The shocking result tore-up a carefully crafted blueprint for glory. Had he won, Yafai could’ve contested the world title proper in his next fight.
Rodriguez, also 32, seemed the ideal opponent. He’d been a champion – but that was down at straw-weight. His 47 fight record suggested a warrior who fell short on the big occasions and who had seen better days.
The timeline has to be redrawn. Hearn will be aware his boxer needs experience against ironmen such as Rodriguez, but the clock is ticking.
A blow-by-blow account of the cracking fight is pointless – readers know what happened. I expected a fairly comfortable night for Galal, even a late stoppage.
I could not have been more wrong. Rodriguez was a revelation, a buzzsaw who threw a record breaking 575 punches in the bout’s entirety.
He rocked Yafai in the first, saw out an attempted comeback by the interim champ in the mid rounds, then turned up the heat until his opponent near melted.
Hearn said afterwards: “You can't fight that type of fight against someone like Rodriguez.
“I mean, I think after six rounds they've both thrown well over a thousand punches, and he was just the guy that wasn't going to be denied tonight. That's disappointing, because I feel like Galal Yafai is that guy that can fight at an elite level and Rodriguez isn't actually that elite guy.
“He's a world-class fighter that falls short at that level, and we expected Galal to overcome him, but Rodriguez was too much for him.”
We all know what happened. It’s now about picking over the “why’s?” and repairs needed.
The upset shines a spotlight on the problems that can be faced by Britian’s very best amateurs when turning pro.
The Team GB set-up – and the stars of Team GB are, in reality, professional fighters – has produced a stream of world beating amateurs.
It has made us a force internationally; it has produced Olympic medallist after Olympic medallist.
But a good number of those stars – like Yafai – quit the amateur code late on. A number have suffered unexpected defeats. A number have failed to deliver what they were expected to deliver.
One of the main reasons is the huge difference in the styles needed to succeed in the two very different sports.
For an elite international amateur, boxing is about not engaging with an opponent – picking up points and getting out.
Professional boxing is all about engaging with an opponent. Afterall, fans pay to see a fight, not a chess match.
Old habits die hard and for a top, top amateur who turns pro in his late 20s or early 30s adapting to the paid game is no picnic.
Team GB amateurs also turn over after a long career boxing the world’s best. That can take its toll.
A points defeat is seldom a disaster, but what happened on Saturday was uncomfortably close to one.
Galal Yafai is a tremendous fighter who can still deliver at the very highest level. Unfortunately, he has to deliver quickly.