55 Facts About Kal Yafai

Khalid "Kal" Yafai is a British former professional boxer who held the WBA super-flyweight title from 2016 to 2020.

Gamal Yafai is a professional boxer and Galal Yafai is an Olympic flyweight boxing champion.

Kal Yafai received the BBC Midlands 2005 "Junior Sportsman of the Year" award, after he became England's first ever U17 World Boxing Champion, when he won the World Cadet title winning the junior flyweight title against Luis Yanez of the United States.

Kal Yafai lost in the quarter-final to the eventual Cuban winner Alexei Collado.

Kal Yafai then pulled out of the final due to injury.

Kal Yafai lost to Andrew Selby 26:12 on 11 November 2011 to deny him qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games after the pair both reached the last eight of the 2011 GB Amateur Boxing Championships in Baku.

In 2012, Kal Yafai was named "Young Boxer of the Year" by the British website BoxRec.

On 7 July 2012, Kal Yafai made his professional debut, aged 23, at bantamweight, at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield on the undercard of Kell Brook vs Carson Jones.

Kal Yafai's opponent was veteran 43 year old Delroy Spencer.

Two weeks later, Kal Yafai was against Mexican Victor Koh at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast.

In December 2012, Kal Yafai fought Spanish boxer Jorge Perez at the Olympia in Kensington, London.

In January 2013, Kal Yafai defeated Mexican boxer Gonzalo Garcia, after Garcia did not come out of his corner for round 5.

On 21 May 2014, Kal Yafai fought at the First Direct Arena in Leeds for the vacant Commonwealth super flyweight title against Nigerian contender and former titleholder Yaqub Kareem.

Kal Yafai's opponent was 34 year old Nicaragua Herald Molina for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental super flyweight title.

Kal Yafai knocked Molina down once in round 1, before finishing the fight off in round 2 via KO.

Kal Yafai defended the title two months later at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland against 38 year old Everth Briceno.

In March 2015, Kal Yafai went the 8 round distance with 20 year old Cristofer Rosales in a non-title bout at the Sheffield Arena.

In September 2015, Kal Yafai fought 20 year old Nicaraguan boxer Aron Juarez at the First Direct Arena.

Kal Yafai knocked Juarez down twice in round one following two left hooks to the body.

The highlights of the fight came in round 5 when Kal Yafai connected with a double left hook, staggering Cunningham and then knocked him down in round 6.

Kal Yafai floored Ajtai twice in round 1, with the fight stopping just under 2 minutes.

Kal Yafai was added to the Eggington vs Gavin card on 22 October 2016 at the Barclaycard Arena in a scheduled 8 round fight after his brother Gamal was forced to pull out of his title defence.

Kal Yafai secured his world title fight after a left body shot floored Johnson Tellez in round 3.

Kal Yafai secured a fight with WBA super flyweight champion Luis Concepcion after knocking out previous opponent Tellez.

At the official weigh in, Kal Yafai weighed in at 8st 2lbs and Concepcion weighed 8st 5lbs, which was above the limit.

Kal Yafai was given an hour to drop the extra weight or risk not having the title at stake.

Kal Yafai put in a dominant performance and outscored Concepcion in nearly every round to win the WBA super-flyweight title.

Kal Yafai became the first boxer from Birmingham to win a world title in over 100 years.

On 25 January 2017, it was announced that Kal Yafai, as wished, would make his first world title defence in his home city of Birmingham on 13 May, live on Sky Sports.

On 15 March 2017, promoter Eddie Hearn announced that Kal Yafai would be fighting 31 year old former Japanese flyweight champion Suguru Muranaka at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.

Kal Yafai retained his world title, in what was seen as a 'touger than expected' fight.

Muranaka was dropped in round 2, the same round that Kal Yafai claimed to have hurt his hand in the post fight.

The bout was fast-paced throughout, which caused Kal Yafai to look tired in the later rounds, due to him landing constant power shots in the earlier rounds and Muranaka connecting with his own body shots to wear him down.

On 8 June 2017, the WBA's championship committee ordered Kal Yafai to start negotiations with mandatory challenger Sho Ishida, who was ranked at number 1 by the organisation.

Kal Yafai said, "Happy days, I've wanted Gonzalez for a long time", although he said wouldn't look past his mandatory fight first.

On fight night, Kal Yafai went the 12 round distance for the third consecutive time, winning a unanimous decision, successfully retaining his WBA title and increasing his chances of fighting in the United States in 2018.

Ishida worked hard in round 11, however Kal Yafai connected with the harder punches.

Kal Yafai stated that he would like to fight again in the Spring of 2018.

On 20 May 2018, it was announced by Top Rank's Carl Moretti that Kal Yafai would make his US debut on 26 May against 26 year old Mexican boxer David Carmona on the same card as IBF belt-holder Jerwin Ancajas, who would be making a mandatory defence against Jonas Sultan.

Kal Yafai had an official purse of $40,000 which did not include the extra amount he would receive for TV rights in the UK.

Kal Yafai dropped Carmona four times in the fight en route to winning the fight after round 7 when Carmona decided to stay on his stool The first round was fast-paced with Kal Yafai scoring an early knockdown with a left hook to the head.

Kal Yafai hit the canvas in round 1, however it was ruled a slip.

Kal Yafai regained his composure and returned to his quick jabs in round 2.

Kal Yafai landed quick jabs in round 3 snapping Carmona's head back each time.

In round 4, Kal Yafai landed a borderline shot which floored Carmona .

Kal Yafai told Sky Sports, "Kal Yafai is ready for the challenge of unification but we really like the Chocolatito fight and have already opened talks with his team".

On his first attempt, Kal Yafai weighed slightly over the 8st 3lb limit.

Kal Yafai was given two hours to lose the small amount, however weighed again immediately without his pants, making weight the second time.

Kal Yafai retained his WBA title via a controversial 12 round unanimous decision.

Kal Yafai started the fight slow, targeting Gonzalez's body while Gonzalez was off the mark quicker with his high tempo, throwing at a higher output.

Kal Yafai struggled to find the right distance and began missing his target.

From round 9, although Gonzalez was still throwing, it was Kal Yafai who was timing his shots, landing accurately on the body and what looked like the harder shots.

Kal Yafai stated it was not his best performance and believed the scorecards were wide, but believed he did enough to retain his belt.

Kal Yafai managed to outbox Jimenez for most of the fight.

Gonzalez, sensing that Kal Yafai's power was waning, became more aggressive, which resulted in a knockdown for Gonzalez in the eighth round.