WBC interim flyweight champion Galal Yafai and challenger Francisco Rodriguez both made weight today at Friday’s weigh-in for their 12-round headliner this Saturday, June 21st, at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
The Yafai-Rodriguez event will be shown live on DAZN at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT. Ring walks for the headliner are expected to occur at 5:00 P.M. ET/2:00 P.M. PT.
Galal Yafai Weighs In for Rodriguez Fight
– Galal Yafai 111.6 vs. Francisco Rodriguez Jr.: 111.1 – Main event
– Peter McGrail 121.9 vs. Ionut Baluta: 121.9 – Co-feature
Promoter Eddie Hearn is concerned about the inexperienced 2016 Olympian Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) going up against the former unified minimumweight world champion Francisco Rodriguez (39-6-1, 27 KOs).
Yafai’s Soft Matchmaking Concerns
Despite his Olympic experience, Yafai has been matched softly during his three-year career and has been guided into capturing his WBC interim 112-lb belt without fighting any of the killers. Like his brother, Kal Yafai, Galal has looked uncomfortable when facing opposition with a hint of power.
He hasn’t been matched against any of the big punchers or tough fighters yet. Saturday’s fight will give a glimpse of how good Yafai is. It still won’t say anything, Francisco Rodriguez isn’t the best at flyweight; hence that’s why he was chosen. If he were a killer, he’d likely have been passed over by Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn.
Rodriguez’s Tough Opponents and Past Losses
Although the Mexican Rodriguez, 32, has lost six times as a pro, his defeats have come against solid fighters, like Roman Gonzalez [x 2], Junto Nakatani, Kazuto Ioka, Donnie Nietes, and Moises Fuentes. Most of those fighters would likely beat Galal Yafai without any problems.
“I think this is a very tough fight. Galal didn’t like my question about Sunny Edwards. The reality is, whatever way you want to look at it, we didn’t know when Sunny Edwards entered that ring, whatever Galal says, Sunny wasn’t 100% mentally going into that fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Mathroom Boxing about Galal Yafai’s recent victory over former world champion Sunny Edwards.
What do you expect Sunny to be like mentally? The guy had been beaten up and stopped by Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in a ninth-round demolition job in December 2023. Of course, Edwards, 32, isn’t going to be firing on all eight cylinders when he fought Galal Yafai last November.
The real question is, why was Sunny chosen as Galal’s opponent in the first place? If you know Edwards has been knocked out badly by ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, why on Earth was he chosen as Yafai’s opponent? We already know the answer. To make Yafai artificially look good. You chose a down-and-out, recently beaten fighter, and you use that person as the opponent for Galal. This is matchmaking 101 on how to create a fake fighter.
“He [Yafai] still took him to pieces, and it was a brilliant performance, but I guess he wants his flowers for that performance, and he should get it, but the mindset of [Francisco] Rodriguez and the mindset of Sunny Edwards is very different going into this fight. I know these guys,” said Hearn.
Eddie is right. Francis Rodriguez isn’t going to enter the ring looking depressed and already beaten against Yafai. He’s going to come to fight tooth and nail for as long as it lasts. The only concern is his age. He’s 32 and has had a long 15-year pro career.
Although he’s the same age as Galal and looks physically younger than him, he still has a lot of miles on his odometer from being in with the killers like Chocolatito Gonzalez, Donnie Nietes, Kazuto Ioka, and Moises Fuentes.
Rodriguez’s Determined Fight Mindset
“I work with a lot of Mexican fighters. When a guy comes up to me and says, ‘Thank you for the opportunity. I won’t let you down on Saturday night.’ This is Rodriguez. I don’t even know the guy. This is his absolute everything, and these young men are so tough. They go over to Japan. I thought he beat [Kazuto] Ioka [in 2021 in Tokyo]. I thought it was very close,” said Hearn.
What that means is Francisco Rodriguez will be coming to fight on Saturday. He understands the significance of this fight for his career. If he beats Yafai and looks like a diamond in the process, it’s possible he could catch the eye of Turki Alalshikh and get selected for one of his Riyadh Season events and make big money.
“He’s a former [two-time] world champion, and he’s [Rodriguez] is going to give Yafai all he can handle. I believe Yafai will come through,” said Hearn.
Last Updated on 06/20/2025
Read the full article here