Galal Yafai Books Dec. 5 Return in Wolverhampton

Galal Yafai will box again on December 5 at The Halls, University of Wolverhampton, in England. The interim WBC flyweight champion fights on the undercard of Conah Walker against Alexis Rocha, and his opponent has not been named.

What is booked

According to the Matchroom Boxing announcement, Yafai is scheduled for a 10-round bout. The 33-year-old southpaw from Birmingham is 9-0 with 7 knockouts and 1 no contest.

The card will stream live on DAZN.

A long gap

Yafai has not fought since June of last year. He met Francisco Rodriguez Jr. in Birmingham, and Rodriguez won a decision. That result was later overturned to a no contest after Rodriguez failed a drug test.

This June, Yafai was due to challenge Ricardo Sandoval in Sheffield for the unified WBA and WBC flyweight titles. He hurt himself in training and had to withdraw.

Sandoval has since lost the belts. Sergio Mendoza of Mexico, now 28-1 with 24 knockouts, beat him by fifth-round TKO in October. Mendoza is the reigning WBC and WBA champion at 112 pounds.

The rest of the card

Conah Walker (18-3-1, 9 KOs) headlines against Alexis Rocha (27-2-1, 16 KOs) in a WBA title eliminator.

Tiah Mai Ayton (7-0, 6 KOs) and Tori-Ellis Willetts (7-2, 1 KO) meet for the British and Commonwealth featherweight titles. William Crolla (10-1, 8 KOs) faces Billy Stanbury (13-0, 3 KOs) for the English super welterweight title.

Several more boxers are booked, with opponents to be announced. They are welterweight Pat McCormack, super featherweight Louie Ward, middleweight Harley Burrows, and featherweights Connor Mitchell and Adam Maca.

Our view

Yafai holds an interim belt, and the unified-title fight he missed in June is gone. It may be that a bout with Mendoza is the logical target, though nothing in the announcement says so. The identity of his December opponent could show how fast his camp wants to move.

Source: FIGHTMAG