Galal Yafai: Olympic champion stops Tommy Frank inside two minutes
- Published
Galal Yafai now has four stoppages in his five wins
Briton Galal Yafai stopped Tommy Frank in the first round to preserve his unbeaten record as a professional.
The 2020 Olympic champion dismantled Frank inside two minutes in front of his hometown fans at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Yafai, 30, dropped Frank twice before the towel was thrown in.
After his fifth win and fourth stoppage victory in just 17 months as a professional, Yafai said he was already "above British level".
"There's also questions marks over me. It's always 'he's getting old or not ready yet'," he added.
"There's levels. I'm not an Olympic gold medallist for nothing. I respect all my opponents but I'm looking at world titles now.
"If I don't get world titles it's a flop for me."
Having debuted in a 10-rounder, Yafai is determined to fast-track himself to world title contention.
Yafai has insisted this week he is on the same level as unbeaten reigning flyweight world champions like Sunny Edwards and Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez.
Sheffield fighter Frank, 30, slumped to the fourth defeat of his career as he struggled to keep pace with Yafai from the first bell.
Frank has won the British flyweight title in the past and Yafai wanted to make short work of his opponent to prove he was a cut above domestic level.
Dressed in blue shorts with white and gold trim, Yafai was fighting in Birmingham for the first time in almost a decade and immediately came out swinging - and dropped Frank after swarming him before landing a heavy right hook.
Frank got back to his feet quickly, but was soon sent back to the canvas by Yafai as the home fighter looked for an early finish.
Yafai hunted his opponent down, backing him on to the ropes as Frank tried in vain to move out of the way of the attacks.
But Yafai was landing regularly and Frank's corner threw in the towel after just over 90 seconds.
Yafai's promoter Eddie Hearn says he will fight on the undercard of Edwards' unification bout against Rodriguez on 16 December in Arizona.
Hearn, who promotes all three fighters, says he expects Yafai to be in the ring with both men in the near future.
"It's only rounds he needs before he mixes with those guys," Hearn said.
Walker hands Pattinson his first defeat
Conah Walker was expected to lose to prospect Cyrus Pattinson
In the main support, Wolverhampton's Conah Walker pulled off an upset by beating Cyrus Pattinson to win the WBA international welterweight title.
Walker, 28, put in a punishing display to drop Pattison three times before the fight was stopped in the eighth round.
Pattinson fell to his first defeat of his fledgling career and the Newcastle fighter's corner threw in the towel to avoid further damage to the novice boxer.
Walker had only won one of his past three outings and said the win meant "everything" to him.
"I knew I was going to win this fight," Walker said. "I visualised it. You can't step in there after six fights with a man like me.
"I'm not being big-headed, I'm just being straight up. I work too hard. Listen, I think it showed tonight just how hard I work."
Despite being dropped in the third, fifth and sixth rounds, Pattinson came back into the fight in stages and his promoter Hearn suggested a rematch could happen.
"Whenever you see a fight of the year, you look to do it again," Hearn said.
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- Published14 January
