Galal Yafai is happy to carry on doing exactly what he has been doing: winning and proving doubters wrong at every turn.
First, they said he should have turned pro after the Rio Olympics.
He won gold in Tokyo and then turned over.
Then they said Sunny Edwards would be too much for him.
Six rounds later, Edwards had been vanquished.
Now, some might say the best in his division are too good and too experienced for the 9-0 (7 KOs) WBC interim flyweight titleholder, but again, Yafai is not listening.
Yafai takes the next stop on his fast-track pro career Saturday at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England, in front of his hometown fans, against Mexico’s veteran Francisco Rodriguez.
But Yafai has been around the sport for too long to listen to the critics. His brother, Kal, was a 2008 Olympian who claimed a version of a world belt, and brother Gamal topped out with a professional European crown.
Neither of his older brothers have boxed since 2023, and they aren’t in the gym lending Galal a hand – not in sparring, anyway.
“Nah, I’ll beat them up now,” Galal said with a laugh while talking to BoxingScene. “They couldn’t hang with me now.
“To be fair, if Kal hit me with his left hook now, he weighs about 70-odd kilos, so he’d probably kill me.”
The older brothers actually run the gym, Birmingham City Boxing Club, but they are not the only boxing people Galal has spent years with; there is also his coach, Robert McCracken.
McCracken, who has worked with the likes of Carl Froch and Anthony Joshua, and still trains Lauren Price, is also the head coach for Team Great Britain in Sheffield.
Because of that, Yafai has spent years by his side.
“Anyone that’s met Rob, he’s a straight-up guy. He’s not out there,” said Yafai.
“He’s hidden. He’s always doing his thing. He’s with GB. So he’s never really out there, which I quite like as well. He’s not in it for the limelight. He’s just a good person, and I trust him, and yeah, he’s very knowledgeable as well.”
Of course, McCracken is familiar with working with high-profile stars, and there is a vacancy at the top of British boxing for a crossover figure. With Tyson Fury saying he is retired, Anthony Joshua on a career countdown, Conor Benn divisive and Chris Eubank Jnr perhaps looking for a final fight or two, there is room for a big new star. But Yafai is not staking any claim on that mantle.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said with a shrug.
“I think, boxing-wise, yeah, I’m good enough to be. But star attraction, them kind of things? No chance. You know, it’s just my weight. I’m a flyweight. That’s the way it goes, and I’ve just got to sit in my lane and do what I do. But I didn’t even get into boxing for that. Them guys, they’re all bigger weights, bigger names. … Or their dads have been superstars, where I’m just a 5ft 4ins, 50-kilo boxer who, yeah, won gold at the Olympics. But I’m not going to the masses. I’m not going to stand out, which is fine. I get it, and I’m not bitter about that at all. I do well in life, you know.
“When I'm older, I can tell my kids I was Olympic champion. I was world champion, hopefully. I even got to meet the Queen – which, where I’m from, people don’t get to do that – and get honored by the Queen. So I’ve surpassed every aspiration I’ve had, and for me to even be talking about me being Olympic champion and things is unbelievable. So will I be at the top as a superstar in Britain? Probably not, but, technically and boxing-wise, yeah, I could be one of the best ones. Not being big-headed, but I think, boxing-wise, yeah.”
Big-headed and Yafai do not sit in the same sentence.
Some fighters from the lower weight classes have crossed over, with Naseem Hamed an obvious UK name. But Naz was brash, bombastic and did everything that sells. Galal is a really nice guy and a helluva fighter. He also has no desire to pretend to be something he is not.
“I’ve got integrity, and I try and always keep my integrity, and I say that sometimes: ‘I’m just being myself,’” he said. “I’m not going to try and be someone else so a few more people know who I am. I’ve got respect for myself and I don't have to act that way. I don’t have to act out of character so a few more people know who I am. My boxing should do the talking, and I know it's different nowadays and you need to have a big mouth, and you need to sell yourself and act out of character, but I’d rather not.”
Yafai instead points to the likes of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Roman Gonzalez as lower-weight fighters who allow their fists and ability in the ring to talk on their behalf. They also have fan bases because of who they are and how they act.
Yafai is simply focused on his job, and on Saturday he will be tasked with fighting Francisco Rodriguez, whom the Englishman admits “is a really good fighter.”
“He’s fought the likes of [Junto] Nakatani and [Kazuto] Ioka up at super fly, and he even fought Roman Gonzalez in 2013, and I had barely just started boxing then, so it’s crazy to think that I’m getting in the ring with these guys. And he’s a former world champion, but he’s fighting me in my home city. He’s coming down to my weight when I’m in my peak, so I’m hoping it goes the way I think it is – but you never know in this game.
“He’s Mexican. He’s tough. He’s going to come forward. He’s stubborn. He’s not going to give in, and he should make for a good fight.”
Yafai has made it clear that it is titles he is looking for and not particular names, but he knows the sport. Once he brings a belt to the table, his ability to land a big fight and a more significant purse will increase.
However, brother Khalid fought Roman Gonzalez and so will forever be able to say he fought the best of his era.
That, despite not wanting to mention names, is something Galal clearly wants. He doesn’t just want belts. He wants significant contests.
“I want them iconic fights as well,” he explained. “First and foremost, I want to be world champion, but I do want them big fights. Kenshiro seems to be the best in the division, so he would fit in that bracket. And then ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is a brilliant fighter. I want to fight them fighters, too. I want to finish my career where I look back and go, ‘Yeah, I fought him, I fought him.’ I always look back at, like, your Michael Carabajals, who were wicked fighters back in the day and they fought everyone and they had wars, and everyone knows who they are now from them big fights, and I kind of want that as well.
“And at these lower weights, if you’re a top fighter, you fight the top Mexicans and the top Japanese fighters, and that's what I'm going to have to do. I’ve had to fight Sunny Edwards, who was the best in Britain. I’ve had to fight Rodriguez, one of the best Mexicans at the lower weights. And I’ll probably have to fight Kenshiro, who’s the best Japanese. So if you want to be a top fighter, you have to do that – and there's not many Brits doing that.”
Bam Rodriguez is in a weight class above, but Yafai knows that would be a money and glory fight. He watched Rodriguez up close and personal when Rodriguez stopped Edwards in Phoenix. And although Yafai and Rodriguez have the same promoter in Matchroom, Yafai has not had the temerity to speak to Eddie Hearn about it being a future possibility.
“We haven’t really talked about it. I just look at it like I’m not even world champion yet,” Yafai said. “He’s a weight above me. He’s a two-weight world champion. He’s probably looking at bigger fish to fry. He’s looking at Nakatani and [Naoya] Inoue. Little old Galal, they’re not going to give a shit about me. I ain’t even won a world title yet. So when they’re talking about Inoue and Nakatani, then I’m not going to get a sniff, which is fine. I’ll stay in my lane for now. But hopefully I can become world champion and I’ll be more than happy to go up and fight Bam Rodriguez.
“Because, let me just say, I watched him up close when he fought Sunny. And it’s a good comparison. Like, people say, ‘Oh, you’ll get smashed by Bam Rodriguez’ and whatnot.
“But I watched him beat Sunny for nine rounds up close. And I’ve been in the ring with Sunny. I kind of know how good he is, with a comparison with who we’ve both fought.
“And after five rounds, when he fought Sunny, it was a good little fight. It was 3-2 either way. When I fought Sunny, it was easy.
“And people say, ‘Yeah, it’s because Bam softened him.’ But we’ll see if we have a fight.
“Hopefully I can fight them fighters and prove people wrong. Because they always doubted me. They always doubt me. But I like it, though. I like it.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.