Galal Yafai Wins Debut Versus Carlos Bautista in Impressive Fashion!
UK flyweight pugilist Galal Yafai (1-0, 1 KO) kicked his professional career off in definite style. Not only was he able to secure the victory, Yafai snagged his first pro knockout by stopping Carlos Bautista (10-5-1, 3 KO’s) in the fifth round of their lopsided affair. With the win, Yafai was crowned as the WBC flyweight International champion.
As an amateur, Yafai became a 2020 gold medalist during the Olympics Games in Tokyo in the flyweight division. Not only this, it appears that the fighting arts flow through his blood. That’s because Yafai comes from a family of combatants with his brothers being Kal and Gamal Yafai. Seeing the potential star that he is, Matchroom Boxing wasted little time charming him into their fold.
The loss was par for the course for Bautista who was clearly brought in to play the role of patsy. He entered the fight fresh off a loss and was 1-3 in his last four outings. It will be interesting to see how Galal Yafai handles this whirlwind introduction to the professional world of boxing.
ONE-SIDED AFFAIR
Yafai began the fight as the ring aggressor and went straight after Bautista; it was a tactic that worked well. Over the course of the first ninety seconds ,Yafai punched his Mexican adversary as much as he pushed him. And he did both frequently. While he absorbed the punishment well, Bautista was significantly bruised and battered at the conclusion of the opening period. Bautista threw more punches in the second round but got beat up just as bad as in the first period.
As Yafai strung together a series of impactful punches in the closing moments of the second, his overzealousness got him socked in the mouth. To his credit, Yafai took the shot well but illustrated that he needed to tighten his defense up and calm down a bit. Mindful of the lesson, Yafai settled down a bit and administered a more evenly paced beating in the third.
It was evident in the fourth round that Bautista was badly wilting. In fact, referee Mark Lyson was giving him a hard look down the final 45 seconds. This is because Bautista was taking an awful thumping. In the fifth, another volley of shots finally sinks the Mexican to a knee. After taking his 8-count, Bautista’s own corner throws in the towel to save him from further damage.
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By: Bakari Simpson
