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Birmingham’s Yafai is hoping to extend his perfect record to nine victories when he takes on Edwards at BP Pulse Live.<\/p>\n
It is the first time he has competed in his home town since a first-round stoppage victory against Tommy Frank in August 2023.<\/p>\n
“I love fighting in my home city, I love fighting in the UK,” Yafai said. <\/p>\n
“It’s nice going to America and fighting in New York at Madison Square Garden and in Las Vegas, but nothing is better than fighting at home and it’s really home for this fight.”<\/p>\n
But life could have panned out very differently for the 31-year-old.<\/p>\n
Yafai, despite being an avid boxing fan from a young age, did not start learning the trade until his late teens and almost decided to walk away from the sport as he struggled to balance training with work.<\/p>\n
“I was working in the Land Rover factory at Solihull,” Yafai said.<\/p>\n
“I always dreamed about boxing for Great Britain at the Olympics and I went on to do that twice, it’s surreal now that I think about it. <\/p>\n
“It was hard to juggle work and boxing and I was at a stage where I was just going to quit because it was getting too much, but thankfully I persevered and the rest is history.”<\/p>\n
After falling short of a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Yafai brought home gold from Tokyo at the Covid-19-delayed Games in 2021 – just four months after Edwards had become a world champion.<\/p>\n
“There’s one thing I have over Sunny – I’m an Olympic champion, he can’t be that,” Yafai said. <\/p>\n
“He’s been a world champion but I can be a world champion. I can be both but he can only be one.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n