Sunny Edwards (21-2, 4 KOs) retired after losing to Gulal Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) by sixth-round technical knockout Saturday night in their fight for the WBC interim flyweight title at Resorts World Arena. announced. in Birmingham, England.

(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)

“I don’t want to be here”

Tonight’s finale began in the fifth round when Yafai unleashed a barrage of punches against a trapped Sunny, who was tied up in the ropes, unable to get out due to being forced by the huge man’s size. could

In the sixth, Yafai rammed Sunny into the ropes again and walked out with an unanswered grumble, leaving the referee with no choice but to stop the bout. The stoppage time of the sixth round was at 1:10.

Early signs of trouble

The 31-year-old Yafai put Sunny in trouble in the opening seconds of the first round, landing a flurry of punches that left the former IBF flyweight champion in trouble. Sunny took him out of the ring but looked in trouble in the second round. Between the second and third Sunny said from his corner, “I don’t want to be here.”

His trainer tried to give him a pep talk, but he didn’t respond in subsequent rounds. Sunny looked mentally withdrawn and unmotivated, and did not show the eagerness to fight that he had shown in the past. His confidence was shattered by a ninth-round stoppage loss to Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez on December 16 last year.

It was a fight like tonight. Sunny took on the much bigger and stronger Bam. He couldn’t match it in terms of size or in the power department. Tonight was exactly the same thing. Yafai succeeded on size alone.

As big as he was, he should have fought at featherweight against the likes of Rafael Espinoza instead of Edwards. It was unbelievable how much bigger Yafai was than Sunny tonight. That would explain why Yafie looked so dry at Friday’s weigh-in. He looked awful cutting up to 112 like a stick figure.

Edwards didn’t have the size or strength to take on the oversized Yaffy, who looked like a featherweight. [126 lbs] Inside the ring tonight.

There was no way the tiny 28-year-old Sunny could handle the big Yafai, who used his size to repeatedly pull him against the ropes and keep him there with hard pushes.

Yafai’s humble victory

“Sunny is a great champion, but I had to train for her. I was worried going into the camp, knowing how good Sunny is,” Yafai said. Matchroom Boxing After a sixth round knockout win over Sunny Edwards tonight.

“I always approach it. I wanted to try it,” Yafai said of why he got off to such a fast start in the first round. “I think people underestimated me. I don’t want to brag too much, but I won Olympic gold. [2020]. I fought against the best boxers in the world. Great boxers like Kazakhs, Cubans, and Sunnis. So, I was used to that style.

“It was just tonight. Maybe on any other night Sunny beat me. Sunny is a technical boxer; he’s on top. He’s a former world champion. He’s #1 in Ring Magainze. He got there for a reason. We had great fights, but the fights are different.

“Winning a gold medal at the Olympics is the best ever, but tonight it was a better feeling beating Sunny than actually standing on the podium. That’s how good Sunny is,” Yafai said.