SUNNY EDWARDS and Galal Yafai are facing off RIGHT NOW for the WBC interim world flyweight title!Former world champion Edwards will be determined to build on his bloody brawl win against Adrian Curiel earlier this year.But to do that, he’ll have to overcome Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold-medallist Yafai, who comes from a renowned boxing family, with his brother Kai being an ex-world champion.But before the main event, SunSport can bring you all of the latest action on the thrilling undercard.Main event ring walk time: 10:45pm GMTLive stream/TV: DAZNCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSFollow ALL the action from the Resorts World Arena with our live blog below…Yafai stops it in R6!Referee Lee Every warns Edwards, almost urging him to show something… he’s seen enough unanswered punishment with the former world champion pinned against the ropes after yet more combos are being teed off on him and waves it off!Wow! Galal said he’d go for a knockout, Sunny didn’t box smart but this was a fantastic showing. Who predicted this? Copy linkCopiedEdwards vs. Yafai R5Clubbing body blows, straight shots and doubling up behind his left jab, Yafai’s variation and forward pressure is wearing on Edwards who is far too comfortable using the ropes as his friend tonight. Swinging wildly and missing, Yafai chains together more combos and an uppercut older brother Gamal had been calling for earlier.After a brief pause as the referee calls for an inspection behind Yafai’s head, the round ends… something tells me this won’t hear the final bell. Copy linkCopiedEdwards vs. Yafai R4Yafai is relentless with his attacks, pawing and pounding shots in Edwards’ direction without getting met with much resistance. The elusive skill we’re used to seeing from the former world champion isn’t here, and Yafai is relishing every moment of breaking him down.Edwards looks exhausted as the bell sounds, Yafai is barely breaking sweat and cannot miss right now. Can’t see it changing unless Galal gets a touch greedy, mind. Copy linkCopiedEdwards vs. Yafai R3This bout just got a lot more intriguing now then!”Can I be real with you? I don’t wanna be here,” is what Edwards reportedly said in-between rounds as the 28-year-old’s head trainer Williams barked encouragement in response, urging his new charge to stop feeling sorry for himself. Yafai is peppering him up with combos against the ropes now and while that dialogue is certainly going to dominate talk if this bout continues unfolding like this, it’s another storyline to monitor. “I’ve noticed you can’t move your feet and get off the ropes like I’m telling you to, so throw a shot back and counter, he’s not moving his head so throw back when he hits you. A lot better,” Williams says.Copy linkCopiedEdwards vs. Yafai R2Yafai looks composed, Edwards rather rattled by comparison in the early going and that will only play into the home hero’s hands. A straight left pings the former IBF kingpin backwards, Edwards is uncomfortably content to stand-and-trade with his back up against the ropes and it’s another stanza banked for the Birmingham man. “Sort your head out, keep your distance,” barks Chris Williams between rounds as Edwards’ body language suggests something is very wrong. The audio mics in the corner weren’t very clear though.Copy linkCopiedEdwards vs. Yafai R1They’re off and Yafai has flown out of the blocks! He appears to wobble the former world titlist within the first half-minute, Edwards can’t afford to stand-and-trade as he’s already on unsteady legs with the Olympic champion whipping power punches.Edwards lands a few nice body shots but besides that, a very clear round for the Rob McCracken-trained pupil from Birmingham. A straight left hand appeared to briefly put Sunny on his haunches and while he eventually recovered, wasn’t all the way back. Copy linkCopiedEdwards-Yafai ringwalks now…Well, it’s almost main event time! We’ve waited a long time for this and unsurprisingly, Galal Yafai is wasting absolutely no energy as he briskly strides into the ring.Edwards is the a-side and soaking up everything with a lengthy walk from his dressing room, backroom team in tow and older brother Charlie among those accompanying him before two rappers I don’t recognise are *shouting* lyrics as he walks, looking knowingly into the crowd. Copy linkCopiedWalker beats Ritson!After the first few rounds, the result never felt in doubt… Lewis Ritson was inspired in the final stanza though and judging by the language from tonight’s commentary team, that will likely be his last appearance as a pro. If so, it’s one to be proud of despite defeat in a near decade-long career.97-93, 97-93, 98-93 the scorecards read, Walker back to winning ways, even though he had to go the ten-round distance here.Copy linkCopiedTony Bellew’s infamous scorecards…It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Walker has won *every* round to this point, there’s no chance for birthday boy and former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew to have his scorecards scrutinised on social media tonight, just yet. It’s been a commanding Conah showing and Ritson needs a knockdown or three to really make this a dramatic finale now.Copy linkCopiedWalker’s power-punching edgeAlthough there’s only a 2% difference in accuracy, Walker has landed more than three times the amount of power punches (51-14) as they enter the fifth. Without wanting to jinx anything, Conah seems in cruise control and everyone can sense it, despite Ritson’s fleeting success with his left jab and disciplined tendencies.Copy linkCopiedWalker digging to the body early..The favourite is firing early and often, Darren Barker deeming it educated pressure on commentary and he’s right. Ritson can’t keep him off for sustained periods and you can almost sense Walker looking to emulate Ohara Davies’ success downstairs from their fight back in March last year. Copy linkCopiedWalker-Ritson up next!Wolverhampton’s Conah Walker, who shot up in prominence after a back-and-forth barnstormer with Cyrus Pattinson in August last year, would’ve felt hard done by after narrowly losing a ten-rounder against unbeaten contender Lewis Crocker in June. Fan-friendly and beloved by many, he’s back in a big way here against Lewis Ritson – whose best work has come exclusively at lightweight.Who will prevail? Ringwalks and introductions out of the way, we’re about to find out…Copy linkCopiedConway scores split decision win!Both have their hands raised in centre ring, but there can only be one winner… although this was competitive, Conway connected on much of the better (and more eyecatching) work, so it’s not a surprise he got the nod on two of the three judges’ scorecards.116-112 Conway, 115-114 Kelly, 115-113 Conway the official verdict, as the Brad Pauls vs. Denzel Bentley winner (Dec. 7) is not-so-subtly served up as a potential next option in early 2025 for the Northampton man. Copy linkCopiedAlmost at the finish line…Good uppercut through the guard and a stiff jab to start the round is an effective tactic Conway has adopted. Kelly fires back briefly but the bigger man’s blitzing attacks are visibly taking their toll, as they enter the final round now.For the stat geeks among us, here were the punch totals two rounds prior: Conway connecting 111-of-384 (29%) to Kelly’s 86-of-322 (27%).Copy linkCopiedConway in controlConway, who scored a seventh-round stoppage win over Ainiwaer Yilixiati in Japan last time out, is holding his feet well and looks noticeably the sharper of the two against Kelly, who has been marginally more accurate but less active with his punch output. Into the seventh they go and he’s chaining these combos together nicely, the Northampton resident. Copy linkCopiedSwiftly moving on…You can usually tell something is awry when a broadcaster quickly shifts onto a pre-planned VT package or advert, rather than doing an interview with the winner of a big bout they’d long been building. Perhaps they’d gone over their expected time constraints, expected Vuong to score a stoppage or called an audible to avoid any potential backlash from a UD10 many inside the arena disagreed with, but hey.Kieron Conway vs. Ryan Kelly is up now, for the vacant Commonwealth middleweight strap, and they’re into the third round.Copy linkCopiedVuong beats Gwynne over ten rounds!The final four rounds were exactly as advertised, Gwynne giving all he could – including throwing a whopping 97 (!) punches in the eighth, and appearing to stun Vuong on more than one occasion pinned up against the ropes as their exchanges in close quarters persisted.Nonetheless, the favourite’s single shots – uppercuts and stinging counters – proved enough in the eyes of the three important men ringside, as they went the distance after a gruelling half-hour’s work.97-94, 96-95, 96-94 all in Vuong’s favour, despite some boos to the contrary. A difficult fight to score and an uber-competitive step-up, exactly the sort of challenge you can’t sniff your nose at for someone with Cameron’s upward trajectory in an ever-changing division.Copy linkCopiedVuong vs. Gwynne R6Into the second-half of this clash they go, Gwynne lands a stray right hand with Vuong up against the corner… then more punch flurries connect as they exchange positions, the youngster’s single counters are accurate but intermittent – can he be more active than this?Gwynne won’t stop walking forward though, it’d be interesting to see what the judges have this scored after six rounds. 4-2 Vuong? “Do it with more finesse, your eye is bad, you don’t have to do a lot… let him tire himself out and then jump on him,” Gwynne’s coach Gary Lockett says as the seventh is about to start… left eye is worsening.Copy linkCopiedVuong vs. Gwynne R5″Bust him up and punish, nudge, walk him back,” are some of the pointed instructions Vuong receives in the corner before the fifth as the referee says Gwynne’s cut was caused by a punch. The 22-year-old can’t help but crack a smile as his coaching team prepare him for another tough round, one where his right hands have done damage but Gwynne’s tireless pit-pat shots are scoring. They go back-and-forth in the final minute of this stanza, Vuong holding his feet more and now content trading leather. Ooooh!Copy linkCopiedVuong vs. Gwynne R4In the exact same round he was stopped out in Riyadh, it appears as though Gwynne has damage again… this time above his left cheekbone, something that’s almost clicked him into another gear.He goes upstairs, then digs down with a few body shots as Vuong replies with a lovely right uppercut through the guard. It’s been that kind of round, what do you prefer? Copy linkCopiedVuong vs. Gwynne R3Vuong is punching in bunches but they’re not yet making a dent, or deterring Gwynne’s relentless pressure. Sharp one-two combos and staying composed in the proverbial fire, he continues to move and use the ring wherever possible to evade those dangerous advances.Another decent stanza banked for Gwynne though, who does a bit of a dancing jig acknowledging the youngster’s boxing the way which suits him, the longer this stays like this.Copy linkCopiedVuong vs. Gwynne R2Vuong, who shares a trainer in Jamie Moore with light-welterweight Jack Catterall, is just warned about punching with Gwynne and being lured into the Welshman’s purposeful traps after the first round.Gwynne’s aggression is paying dividends as he enjoys a few periods of success, Vuong can’t afford to hold his feet too long and allow him a standing target to pepper scoring shots at. Already brewing nicely, this as a reminder: a ten-round contest. Copy linkCopiedVuong vs. Gwynne R16-0 prospect Cameron Vuong faces former British and European lightweight champion Gavin Gwynne in a tantalising crossroads clash.Gwynne, badly injured en route to a fourth-round TKO defeat by then-unbeaten prospect Mark Chamberlain in Riyadh eight months ago, is back and determined to prove he hasn’t lost a step against an exciting youngster 12 years his senior. Competitive opening stanza: Gwynne pressing as Vuong flicks out jabs to the body and is boxing well on the back foot.Copy linkCopiedMain card underway!Former two-time English title challenger Benn Norman looked delighted at the final bell with the effort he produced over six tough rounds against highly-rated Walsall flyweight Hamza Uddin, 21. Uddin gets the nod, 59-56, to open up the main card with his second consecutive decision victory – this against credible opposition.Four fights left… a lightweight cracker up next!Copy linkCopiedJones just too much, retains English titleTroy Jones was far more active, accurate and looked every bit the better boxer over ten competitive rounds against a gamely Michael Stephenson effort as the Birmingham resident retained English honours at 175lbs.The 26-year-old, who has shared rounds sparring with the likes of two-time world title challenger Anthony Yarde, skipped Area title level and looks justified in his decision to do so in recent bouts.98-91 x 2 and 97-93 were the judges’ scorecards after ten rounds, the defending champion was deducted a point in the fifth for excessive use of his shoulder up close. Nonetheless, 2024’s been great for Troy.Copy linkCopied More
