Here’s some interesting and quite unexpected news regarding the flyweight division. As per numerous outlets, it’s been reported that the folks at the WBC have ordered recently crowned WBC flyweight champion Ricardo Sandoval to make his first defence against Galal Yafai.
Yafai’s Unexpected Flyweight Title Opportunity
Fans, of course, know what happened to interim champ Yafai back in June, when he was beaten – and quite badly beaten up – by Mexican warrior Francisco Rodriguez Jr. in Birmingham, UK.
The fight proved quite shocking, especially the way former amateur standout, Olympic gold medallist Yafai was made to take some hefty shots again and again. But the biggest shock came later, twofold. First, Rodriguez’s drug test came back hot, and then, causing outrage and bewilderment, the WBC ruled that Rodriguez, who claimed his use of an illegal substance was a mere accident, would box Yafai in a return. No ban, no nothing, with the June 21 decision still standing at the time of writing.
Add in the fact that Rodriguez failed a previous drug test, this in his fight before taking on Yafai, with that decision being changed to a no-contest, and no wonder people were angry and confused.
Can Yafai Recover From His Last Fight?
Despite all, Can Yafai Recover From His Last Fight? Weird stuff here, Yafai will now most likely get a chance to win the full WBC belt (should he take the fight, and most people will no doubt feel that Yafai will take it, so long as everything, money, location, date, etc, makes sense). But here’s the thing: how much did that 12-round beating from Rodriguez, who benefited from the use of a PED, take out of Yafai? Again, Yafai really did take some hammering to the point that plenty of people felt he should have been pulled out during the latter stages of the June fight.
In Sandoval, Yafai, 9-1(7), will be facing a superb talent, a man who put on a career-best performance in dethroning Japanese star Kenshiro Teraji to take the title, last month in Tokyo. Sandoval, 27-2(18) could go on to become a pound-for-pound star, and the 26-year-old is of course in no mood to let his belt slip so soon after having won it.
Yafai will get what he deserves if he does fight Sandoval, but can the 32-year-old win the fight?