Galal Yafai inflicted a one-sided stoppage loss on Sunny Edwards who announced his retirement after the flyweight fight in Birmingham.
Yafai moved within touching distance of a world title shot after the referee stepped in to prevent any more punishment for Edwards, who had earlier told his corner, ‘I don’t want to be here,’ amid an early onslaught.
Yafai went on to the offensive from the off, pinning Edwards to the ropes in the first minute of the fight and unleashing both hands as he set out his stall, catching his opponent with a left cross, right hook combination as the younger man struggled to find his range.
Edwards took a series of second-round body shots and a solid left cross with Yafai riding what response the Londoner was able to muster, and having told his corner his legs had gone during the interval, he found himself under intense pressure in the third.
Yafai maintained his dominance over the fourth and fifth rounds with Edwards visibly wilting and landed a series of right hooks in the sixth before the referee stepped in to call a halt after a minute and 10 seconds.
Edwards, who tasted defeat for the second time in his 23-fight career, swiftly announced his decision to retire, saying: “I’ll be real, if I won the fight, I was going into the sunset. This is the last thing that I wanted to do, get that scalp of the Olympic (champion).”
He added: “If I’m being perfectly honest, my body’s falling apart, man. I’ve got bad ankles, I’ve got bad wrists, I’ve got bad shoulders, I’ve got a bad back – everything about me is bad at this moment.”
Yafai, who lost to Edwards on a split decision when the pair fought as amateurs in 2015, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I was scared going into camp, worried what Sunny could do to me.
“I sparred him, he was hard to spar, he’s beaten me before, he’s been the man in the division, so I had to train as hard as I could to compete with him.”
