Brotherly inspiration drives on Yafai and British Lionhearts
BySportsbeat
Published 07/04/2017 at 10:21 GMT
Rio 2016 Olympian Galal Yafai was inspired by his on-looking brothers as the British Lionhearts reached the World Series of Boxing quarter-finals with victory over the France Fighting Roosters.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Yafai had siblings Kal and Gamal watching on at York Hall, and it seemed to make the difference as the Lionhearts prevailed 3-2 in a vital top-of-the-table clash.
The 24-year-old was on perfect form to open up the night with a win over the Roosters' Martin Molina in the light-flyweight category, with all three judges giving him the contest 50-44 which went the distance.
Peter McGrail followed that up beating Samuel Kistohurry, while Conor Loftus wrapped up the tie in the light-welterweight division – the perfect way to extend their lead atop Group B.
That was despite the visitors battling back late on to reduce the arrears, with Yafai delighted his progression in the ring is continuing when it matters most.
"He was a tough kid, I just did what I had to do really, I was a bit unlucky in the last round, but I was a bit tired, I wasn't really myself today. But I got the job done," said Yafai.
"I felt a bit ill these last few days really, had a bit of a cold, no excuses but I got the win and onto the next one.
"It's good to have my brothers here, they've got good experience, they've been here before, they help me get through these fights and they've helped me all the way through my boxing so far.
"Kal is world champion so there's no better advice that I can get than from a world champion, it's wicked to have my brother as a world champion.
"It's really important, for me now I've just got to keep learning [from] every single fight, so I've just got to get more and more experience really and keep getting better."
McGrail also turned on the style in his own bantamweight bout, with 49-46 the eventual scoreline unanimously agreed by the judges.
That was despite not feeling on his best form at York Hall, believing that victory without being 100 per cent can stand him in good stead going forward.
He said: "We went top of the table and through to the quarters which are at York Hall on 20th May, so hopefully I'll be doing that and possibly the semis as well, but definitely the Europeans, get top eight in that and gold at worlds.
"I want to start winning medals in major tournaments. I didn't feel as sharp and as fit as I usually feel and after the first round, I knew I just could have made it a bit easier in there.
"Sometimes we all have a bad day at the office, and if you're having a bad day at the office and still beating good kids then you know you can put nights like this in the background."
It wasn't to be for Zoltan Harcsa and Josip-Bepo Filipi however, with the remaining part of the Lionhearts team both missing out in their bouts, though it did little to effect their quarter-final chances.
Sportsbeat 2017
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement