Galal Yafai doesn’t expect to challenge Kenshiro Teraji in his next fight, regardless of his victory over Sunny Edwards.
The Olympic gold medallist excelled throughout his fight with Edwards in November, in which he won every round until the referee intervened to rescue the struggling Edwards in the sixth.
A ninth win from nine professional contests delivered to Yafai, 31, the WBC interim flyweight title, and therefore put him on course to fight Japan’s Teraji, the full champion. It also preceded Edwards unexpectedly announcing his retirement at the age of 28.
“I’d like to think [Teraji will be next], but you never know in boxing,” Yafai told BoxingScene. “If I was going to put my house on it I’d probably say it’s not going to happen next. I just do the training and fighting, and let the team sort things out.
“Maybe March, April [will be my next fight]. I’d like to think so anyway – I don’t think [promoters] Matchroom are gonna wanna sit around just waiting. They’re going to want to get me out there fighting again – and hopefully in Birmingham as well, ‘cause I enjoyed fighting in my city. I’m used to fighting in America, but it’s harder to acclimatise and things like that. I could see the difference fighting back at home.
“You don’t really know if you’re going to get the best possible version of yourself [when you fight on the road] – because I hadn’t fought back at home for a while, I could feel the difference. You just feel better and stronger. It might not even be the truth. I might just have been great that night. But I felt fitter; I felt better fighting at home. But if I have to fight abroad, I have to fight abroad. I did it as an amateur. My last one in [Las] Vegas, yeah, I was fine; I was comfortable. But I just feel much better at home. But that’s up to Matchroom. If I have to go abroad, to Japan or America, I’m happy to do so.
“I don’t have much to do with all that side of it. I normally leave it to Rob [McCracken, my trainer and manager], and he normally sorts everything out. I spoke to him a few times. I’ll have a little break – I go on holiday this week [to Dubai, with wife Jovita and baby daughter Nyla] – then get back, have a little rest over Christmas, and I’ll be back in the gym in Sheffield and seeing what’s next.”
Yafai defeating Edwards even more convincingly than had the excellent Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in December 2023 has since contributed to speculation regarding a fight between them. Teraji, 32, stopped Cristofer Rosales in October.
“I don’t just want to sit around now,” Yafai continued. “I want to be the full champion. I know people are shouting about the Bam Rodriguez fight – if that can happen in the future, brilliant.
“But I don’t really call names. I’m happy to fight these guys, but it’s a lot tougher going up a division when I make the weight easy, and then fighting the best in that division. All respect to Bam Rodriguez, he’s a great fighter, but if I can fight him in the future then it’d be a great fight for the fans.”
