Galal Yafai’s homecoming gathers pace on June 21 when the unbeaten Olympic gold-medallist defends his WBC interim flyweight belt against seasoned Mexican Francisco Rodríguez Jr. Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) has been out of the ring since overpowering Sunny Edwards in six rounds last November, a win that made the Birmingham southpaw look like Britain’s next little-man star. Rodríguez (38-6-1, 26 KOs) brings far deeper professional experience, including a stint as unified WBO-IBF champion at strawweight and more recent challenges of Kazuto Ioka and Junto Nakatani up at 115. Victory for either fighter locks in the WBC number-one spot and a mandatory crack at division ruler Kenshiro Teraji.
Watch Edwards vs. Yafai highlights: Watch
Local appetite is further fed by Conah Walker (15-3-1, 6 KOs) defending his British welterweight title against Liam Taylor (28-2-1, 14 KOs). Walker’s relentless pressure faces Taylor’s rangy jab-and-cross approach in a fight many expect to steal the early rounds, if not the show. Rising cruiserweight prospect Pat Brown (1-0, 1 KO) returns after a debut stoppage, while unbeaten hopefuls Hamza Uddin, Ibraheem Sulaimaan and Aaron Bowen aim to stretch their perfect records on the undercard.
For Yafai, the night is a chance to keep momentum rolling toward a full world title; for Rodríguez it offers a final road back to the sport’s summit.
Fight card:
▪️Galal Yafai vs. Francisco Rodriguez Jr., 12 rounds, for Yafai’s WBC interim flyweight title
▪️Conah Walker vs. Liam Taylor, 12 rounds, for Walker’s British welterweight title
▪️Peter McGrail vs. Ionut Baluta, 12 rounds, super bantamweight
▪️Ibraheem Sulaimaan vs. Brian Phillips, 8 rounds, super featherweight
▪️Hamza Uddin vs. Johsua Vallejo, 8 rounds, flyweight
▪️Aaron Bowen vs. TBA, 8 rounds, middleweight
▪️Pat Brown vs. TBA, 6 rounds, cruiserweight
