Galal Yafai keen to add world title to Olympic gold after turning professional

Galal Yafai is determined to add a world title to his Olympic gold but says he does not feel any extra pressure on his shoulders after he turned professional on Thursday.

The 29-year-old has signed a long-term deal with Matchroom and will make his debut in the pro ranks on February 27 on the undercard of Lawrence Okolie’s world cruiserweight bout at the O2 Arena live on DAZN.

Yafai is aware of the expectation given his gold medal exploits in August and also the achievements of his brothers Kal, an ex-world champion, and Gamal, who is a former European belt holder in the super-bantamweight category.

Yet the Birmingham-born fighter not only wants to follow in the footsteps of his siblings but also those of British world champions Anthony Joshua, Lennox Lewis and James DeGale after they all conquered their respective divisions in boxing having left the amateur scene as Olympic champion.

“Hopefully I can, I wouldn’t say surpass Kal but be on his level by being a world champion,” the youngest Yafai told the PA news agency.

“I am not deluded enough to think I will go in there and smash everyone. I have to be smart about it, I have to go about it the right way but hopefully I will be challenging for world titles sooner rather than later.

“There is not many world and Olympic champions around. I don’t know the number of them in Britain. You have AJ, James DeGale, I know there is only a handful.

“If I can add to it then it would be great for my legacy, great for my name and great for when I look back on my boxing life to say I was Olympic and world champion.”

It has been a whirlwind few months for the one-time Land Rover employee, who achieved his dreams at the delayed 2020 Games – and his success in Tokyo also earned him an MBE.