Gamal Yafai
| Gamal Yafai | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Gamal Yafai |
| Rated at | Super Bantamweight |
| Nationality |
 English |
| Born |
4 August 1991 Birmingham, England |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2010 Moscow | Bantamweight |
Gamal Yafai (born 4 August 1991)[1] is an English professional boxer. As an amateur he was a member of the England elite squad as well as the Great British podium squad and won bronze at the 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Moscow.[2]
Amateur career
Gamal boxed for the Birmingham City Police ABC in Birmingham and was a member of the Great Britain elite squad trained by Robert McCracken and funded with money from the National Lottery. His brother Khalid Yafai boxed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and was also a member of the Great Britain elite squad.
In June 2010 Gamal won the bronze medal at the 2010 European Championships in Moscow. En route to the semi-finals Yafai beat Israels Peter Moyshenzon 11-1 in the 1st round, Italy's Vittorio Parrinello 5-3 in the second and Irelands John Joe Nevin, a World bronze medalist, in the quarter finals.[3] Yafai lost in the semi-final 3-2 to the Russian Eduard Abzalimv and so securing the bronze medal.[4] The tournament was Yafai's first outing at senior international level.[5]
Domestically at only 17 years of age was crowned ABA flyweight champion in 2009 with a win over Adam Whitfield beating him 11-5 in the final. Gamal followed in the footsteps of his brother Khalid who won an ABA title in 2008. Of the victory Yafai's coach at his club in Birmingham Frank O'Sullivan said "I was concerned about Gamal’s stamina but he handled it well...He boxed superbly to instructions and finished the first round 2-2. At the end of the second it was 5-5 and Gamal then went all out to win and stormed to success 11-5...It was a cracking victory and now Gamal can go on and establish his own career and will, for instance, be boxing in the three nations for England at Liverpool at the end of May."[6] Yafai did indeed box in the three nations tournament featuring competitors from England, Wales and Scotland once again meeting Adam Whitfield in the final and once again coming out on top, this time 13-4.[7]
Professional career
Yafai turned professional in May 2014. In March 2016, in his ninth professional fight, he stopped Bobby Jenkinson in seven rounds to take the Commonwealth super bantamweight title.[8]
References
- ↑ "Profile: Gamal Yafai". British Lionhearts. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ↑ "Boxer profile: Gamal Yafai". Amateur Boxing Association of England.
- ↑ "European championships results". Amateur Boxing Association of England.
- ↑ "Euro 2010 results". Boxing Scene.
- ↑ "Team GB boxers make their mark in Moscow". London 2012. 16 June 2010.
- ↑ Johnson, Ian (11 May 2009). "Birmingham's Gamal Yafai wins ABA flyweight title in Sheffield". Birmingham Mail.
- ↑ "BABA championship results 2009". Amateur Boxing Association of England.
- ↑ Hobbs, Tim (2016) "Gamal Yafai stops Bobby Jenkinson to win Commonwealth super-bantamweight title", Sky Sports, 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016