Chris Oliver looks ahead to Saturday's card in Birmingham, live on DAZN, where Galal Yafai is bidding to maintain his title hopes.
Boxing betting tips: Saturday June 21
2pts Galal Yafai and Peter McGrail to both win by decision 15/8 (Ladbrokes)
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Francisco Rodriguez Jr is standing in the way of Galal Yafai and a world title shot.
Yafai holds the interim WBC flyweight belt and a shot at full champion Kenshiro Teraji is in the pipeline for later this year, but first he must get past Rodriguez at Resorts World in Birmingham on Saturday night.
Yafai has been hot property since winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and has made steady progress in the pro ranks to win his first eight contest (six early), but it was his latest performance against Sunny Edwards that really made people sit up and take notice.
Yafai was the slight underdog going into that domestic clash at the back end of 2024 but jumped straight on Edwards and had his man in trouble early in the opening session. It was pretty much one-way traffic from that point on, until the referee jumped in to save Edwards from further punishment in the sixth round.
On the back of that impressive victory, Yafai is a 4/11 chance to take his record to 10-0 this weekend but Rodriguez is a serious test, despite being available at 7/2.
At 32, Rodriguez (39-6-1) is the same age as Yafai but he is vastly more experienced and has been mixing with the best small men in the sport for many years. A former world title holder, his last defeat came in late 2022 when outpointed by Junto Nakatani, but he gave the unbeaten three-weight world champion plenty to think about and emerged with plenty of credit.
Rodriguez is known for his high work rate and for throwing plenty of leather, while he can also bang a bit as his 27 stoppages confirm. So, with a few questions marks over Yafai’s gas tank, we should get a few answers on that front and things could get very interesting if the favourite is found lacking in the stamina department.
However, one thing that can’t be questioned is Yafai’s technical ability and he is great to watch when in full flow. His superb footwork enables him to move beautifully around the target as he puts on pressure and throws from all sorts of angles. Edwards couldn’t see the shots coming in November and the silky skills of Yafai can prove too much again here.
Admittedly, Rodriguez presents a very different test to that of the fleet-footed Edwards and the visitor will be very much on the front foot from the first bell, but Yafai could be too good and too fresh for his experienced opponent.
Yafai is big and strong for the weight, as Edwards found out as he just couldn’t keep his man off, but that may not be much of an issue for Rodriguez, who has fought at higher weights. However, Yafai’s southpaw stance could be an issue, as Rodriguez’s last defeat came against a ‘lefty’ in the shape of Nakatani.
It’s 7/2 for Yafai to win by stoppage but Rodriguez has only lost once inside the distance and that was against the great Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez nearly 12 years ago. Therefore, Yafai by decision looks the most likely outcome and that is fairly priced at 10/11.
I expect Yafai to start fast and confuse his opponent by using his flashy footwork to pepper the underdog with shots from all angles. Rodriguez can come into it in the second half if Yafai begins to slow down, but I fancy the favourite to be well ahead on the scorecards by that point, and he can hold on down the stretch to set up a world title shot with a victory on the scorecards.
Revenge mission
In an intriguing co-main event, Peter McGrail has revenge on his mind again Ionut Baluta.
Baluta (17-5-1) is known for causing upsets on these shores and has already beaten two men from the Everton Red Triangle Gym - Andrew Cain and Brad Strand.
However, McGrail is promising to get his own back for his gym-mates with a victory here, and he’s around the 1/5 mark to do so.
It’s a change in opponent for McGrail, who was due to face Shabaz Masoud, but this is no easy replacement McGrail, who was a Tokyo Olympian.
McGrail (11-1) has won all three outings since a shock defeat to JaRico O’Quinn 18 months ago, and he registered a unanimous decision victory over the previously unbeaten Rhys Edwards last time out.
It’s only three months since Baluta (4/1) upset Strand on the scorecards and, as always, he will come to fight. However, the very talented McGrail should have the speed and footwork to overcome the unorthodox aggression of Baluta, who has never been stopped. The favourite will do very well to win inside the distance (3/1), and he is likely to need the judges to claim win number 12 here.
That outcome is an 8/15 shot and a double with Yafai on points comes in at around 15/8 with Ladbrokes, which could be the way to tackle this DAZN-televised card.
Posted at 1125 BST on 20/06/25
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