Galal Yafai took the vacant interim WBC flyweight title, and ended the career of Sunny Edwards with a sixth round stoppage win at Resorts World in Birmingham.
2020 Olympic Gold medalist Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) had been out twice in 2024, stopping Agustin Gauto in eight in April, before warming up for Edwards with a third round stoppage of Sergio Oroczo Oliva in September.
Former world champion Edwards (21-2, 4 KOs) was last out in June, taking a wide technical decision win against Adrian Curiel, and that preceded the loss of his IBF belt to Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez.
Yafai pressurised Edwards from the off, with the opening round seeing him buzz Edwards with a right hand.
Yafai wasn’t giving his opponent a moments peace, swarming all over his rival with constant pressure punching, and the fourth round saw absolute one-way traffic, with the conclusion surely not long in arriving.
That conclusion came in the sixth, when Yafai trapped his man in the corner, and as he mercilessly unloaded with both hands, the referee came to the mercy of Edwards, and waved the contest off.
Edwards announced his retirement in the post-match interviews.
Sunny Edwards announces he is retiring from boxing.
What a career it has been 👏#EdwardsYafai pic.twitter.com/32FIyADg2P
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 30, 2024
Smith returns, Walker bullies Ritson and Vuong scrapes through
Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs) made a successful return to action after losing to Artur Beterbiev, and he stopped Carlos Galvan (20-15-2, 19 KOs) in the fifth round of their light heavyweight bout, with the visitor down three times before the conclusion.
The vacant Commonwealth middleweight title went the way of Kieron Conway (22-3-1, 6 KOs), as he took a split decision win against Ryan Kelly (19-5-1, 8 KOs). One judge had Kelly a 115-114 winner, but the remaining judges had Conway up by scores of 116-112 and 115-113.
Conah Walker (14-3-1, 5 KOs) was a handy winner on the cards over ten rounds at welterweight against Lewis Ritson (23-5, 13 KOs). Walker took two tallies of 97-93, and a third at 98-93.
.@conah_walker gets the W over Lewis Ritson 👊#EdwardsYafai | Live on DAZN pic.twitter.com/HTYeegWXT4
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 30, 2024
Cameron Vuong (7-0, 3 KOs) got a step up in class, and took a competitive ten round win on points against former British, Commonwealth and European champion Gavin Gwynne (17-4-1, 5 KOs). Gwynne was cut over both eyes by the end, and Vuong was the victor by scores of 97-94, 96-94 and 96-95.
Further undercard recap
Troy Jones (12-0, 6 KOs ) defended his English title with a points win against Michael Stephenson (9-3, 0 KOs). James was a wide 98-91 winner on two cards, and a third had him 97-93 up, despite being docked a point for use of the shoulder in round five.
AND STILL 🏆
Troy Jones defeats Michael Stephenson via unanimous decision 👊#EdwardsYafai | Live on DAZN pic.twitter.com/ge8apWG3Mk
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 30, 2024
Hamza Uddin (3-0, 1 KOs) took a 59-56 win against Benn Norman (7-6, 0 KOs) in their flyweight meeting, and Aaron Bowen (4-0, 2 KOs) knocked out James Todd (4-4-2, 0 KOs) with a body shot in the fifth round of their contest at middleweight.
At super featherweight, Ibraheem Sulaimaan (6-0, 4 KOs) was another body shot winner, this time in round two against Marvin Solano (24-21, 8 KOs). Super middleweight debutant Taylor Bevan (1-0, 1 KO) halted Greg O’Neill (7-9-1, 1 KOs), also in two rounds.
