If familiarity breeds contempt, then there should be very little love lost between Sunny Edwards and Galal Yafai when the fighters square off Saturday, live on DAZN.
The two have a long history together, first as amateurs and later as long-time sparring partners. Edwards holds the mental advantage of scoring a victory over Yafai in the amateur ranks, but both men have since gone on to bigger and better things as Edwards is a former IBF flyweight world champion while Yafai won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Now their paths have intertwined again, with the vacant WBC Interim world flyweight crown on the line in Birmingham, and Yafai says their shared history will add some edge to the proceedings.
"Sunny's a great fighter," Yafai said at the pre-fight press conference on Thursday. "He's a former world champion, he's a good name. We've got history as well, so it just makes it a little bit more needle in it."
The men wouldn't have the history they have if they weren't from the same country, and for Yafai an all-British match-up is something that he relishes after travelling the world to pursue his dream.
"It's not what I'm used to," Yafai said. "I'm used to going to America and fighting an unknown Mexican. But I'm fighting someone that everyone rates, everyone knows, and we'll see who the better man is on Saturday."
How to watch Sunny Edwards vs. Galal Yafai on DAZN
Sunny Edwards vs. Galal Yafai and the whole fight card will be stream live on DAZN in over 200 countries across the globe. You can watch with a DAZN subscription.
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