WBA super-flyweight champion Kal Yafai wants to be the best fighter on the planet. To do that heโd have to beat Roman Gonzalez, the WBC titlist in the division and the Boxing News pound-for-pound ruler.
โThatโs a big one,โ Kal said. โYouโve got fighters jumping up weights to try and get a fight with him.
โIโve got a great team behind me, Eddie [Hearn] and Matchroom. Big time boxingโs over here. Iโm sure in the next year to 18 months thatโs a fight that can happen over here, a big unification fight.โ
How would he approach the challenge? โThe thing is, you see his fight with Carlos Cuadras and you see how bad he marked up in that fight and he [Cuadras] had his moments in that fight. Cuadras is a good fighter himself. He beat Concepcion like myself, really in a similar way to how I did. Itโs just one of them. Thereโs different ways you can box Gonzalez. Heโs a world class fighter, heโs not rated as pound for pound number one fighter in the world for no reason. Obviously I know it would be a ridiculously hard night,โ Yafai said. โI think in the next couple of fights I will just keep learning and keep improving on the way and I think thatโs a fight that Iโm capable of winning.
โIโve watched his fights and looked up to him and things like that and heโs doing brilliant things for the super-flyweight division because he brings attention to the division, which the little men donโt get a lot of. Thereโs people that rate the super-flyweight division as the best in boxing at the moment. Itโs getting recognition. Nowโs a time in boxing where the divisionโs really highly rated.
โIf that fight can happen down the line and I can win that fight. Then obviously it puts me right, right up there.โ