The WBC Interim World Flyweight Title mandatory bout between reigning champion Galal Yafai (UK) — undefeated with a record of 9 wins (7 KOs) — and the division’s No.1 contender, Francisco “Chihuahua” Rodriguez Jr. (Mexico) — 39 wins (27 KOs), 6 losses, 1 draw, 1 no contest — is set to take place on June 21 (June 22 Japan time) at the bp Pulse Live Arena in Birmingham, England. The event will be promoted by Matchroom Boxing and broadcast live on DAZN. The winner of this fight will be required to face WBC World Flyweight Champion Kenshiro Teraji (BMB) — 25 wins (16 KOs), 1 loss — in a unification bout.
The promotional rights for Yafai vs. Rodriguez Jr. were won at purse bid on March 25 (March 26 Japan time) by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, Yafai’s promoter, with a winning bid of $222,222 (approximately 33.3 million yen). However, there were doubts about whether Rodriguez Jr. would be able to make the flyweight limit, as he had not fought in the division in recent years.
Galal Yafai, the Tokyo Olympic flyweight gold medalist, claimed the interim WBC world title in dominant fashion on November 30, 2023 (December 1 Japan time) at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham. He defeated former IBF world champion and then-ranked No.3 Sunny Edwards (UK) — 21 wins (4 KOs), 2 losses — via a one-sided sixth-round TKO, a performance that ultimately led to Edwards’ retirement.
Former WBO and IBF World Minimumweight Champion Francisco Rodriguez Jr. has previously attempted to become a two-division world champion twice, but fell short on both occasions — once against Donnie Nietes (Philippines) for the WBO World Light Flyweight Title, and once against Kazuto Ioka (Shisei Boxing Gym, Japan) for the WBO World Super Flyweight Title. On November 1, 2022, he faced Junto Nakatani (M.T Boxing Gym) — who had just vacated the WBO World Flyweight Title and now holds a record of 30 wins (23 KOs) with no losses — at Saitama Super Arena, where Rodriguez Jr. lost by unanimous decision over 10 rounds. This fight marks his third attempt at becoming a two-division world champion, albeit for an interim title.
In the co-main event, IBO World Super Bantamweight Champion Shabaz Masoud (UK) — ranked No. 4 by the IBF and No. 14 by the WBC with a record of 14 wins (4 KOs) and no losses — will make his first title defense against WBA No. 6 contender Peter McGrail (UK), who holds a record of 11 wins (6 KOs) and 1 loss.
Masoud captured the IBO title on November 2, 2023 (November 3 Japan time) at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham by defeating then-WBC and IBF No. 5 Liam Davies (UK) — 16 wins (8 KOs), 1 loss — via a 12-round split decision.
Southpaw technician McGrail suffered a setback on December 16, 2023 (December 17 Japan time) at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, where he scored two knockdowns against Ja’Rico O’Quinn (USA) — 17 wins (9 KOs), 1 loss, 1 draw — but was ultimately knocked out at 2:19 of Round 5. However, McGrail bounced back with three straight wins in 2023. Most notably, on December 21 (December 22 Japan time), he defeated WBA World Featherweight No. 13 Reece Edwards (UK) — 16 wins (4 KOs), 1 loss — by 10-round decision at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reestablishing himself in the rankings.
Rodriguez Jr., who previously suffered defeats to Donnie Nietes (Philippines) and Kazuto Ioka (Japan), now looks to see if he can overcome Galal Yafai with his relentless volume punching. All eyes are on whether he can pull it off!
This article has been translated and published with permission from BOXING MASTER.
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