Galal Yafai: I want to be world champion as quickly as possible after Olympic success

After his Olympic gold medal success last summer, Galal Yafai makes his professional boxing debut on Sunday, taking on Carlos Vado Bautista with the WBC international flyweight title up for grabs.

I was pretty much straight back in the gym, training to go pro. The hardest bit is getting the right deal. It’s a long process, it’s my future, so it had to be the right offer. Once I’d set out for the Olympics, I couldn’t really jump ship but four years became five because of coronavirus and I had to stick with it and be disciplined.

It was like a flash — a crazy month. It was a blur but I loved every minute of it and I got what I needed to get out of it.

Definitely. That was a big factor for me. The Yafai family have a stake in Matchroom! It was an easy decision for me from the start. The proof is in the pudding with Matchroom and DAZN — they’ve been a huge power force in boxing, all over the world, and Eddie has been promoting my brothers for a long time.

One or two but I’m an Olympic gold medallist from Great Britain, Matchroom is a British company, it was the perfect fit. My heart was always set on them and we were able to get a deal done. I’m joining at a good time.

It was clear what I was going to do — I was desperate to turn pro. That extra year when Tokyo was delayed due to Covid killed me. But I was able to get gold and now I’m ready to go. I was wondering at times ‘what am I doing here? Am I wasting my time?’. Pressure built up and I had to do well.

I enjoyed my time on the team, I loved it. The best time of my life and Olympic gold topped it off but the mindset changes now in the paid ranks. I’m doing pretty much what I did before. But it’s longer rounds, smaller gloves, and I’m going in at the deep end with a