Gamal Yafai

Who is Gamal Yafai?

Gamal Yafai is an English amateur boxer fighting in the 54 kg Bantamweight category. He is a member of the England elite squad as well as the Great British podium squad and recently won bronze at the 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Moscow.

Gamal boxes for the Birmingham City Police ABC in Birmingham and is a member of the Great Britain elite squad trained by Robert McCracken and funded with money from the National Lottery. His brother Khalid Yafai boxed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and is also a member of the Great Britain elite squad.

In June 2010 Gamal won the bronze medal at the 2010 European Championships in Moscow. En route to the semi-finals Yafai beat Israels Peter Moyshenzon 11-1 in the 1st round, Italy's Vittorio Parrinello 5-3 in the second and Irelands John Joe Nevin, a World bronze medalist, in the quarter finals. Yafai lost in the semi-final 3-2 to the Russian Eduard Abzalimv and so securing the bronze medal. The tournament was Yafai's first outing at senior international level.

Domestically at only 17 years of age was crowned ABA flyweight champion in 2009 with a win over Adam Whitfield beating him 11-5 in the final. Gamal followed in the footsteps of his brother Khalid who won an ABA title in 2008. Of the victory Yafai's coach at his club in Birmingham Frank O'Sullivan said "I was concerned about Gamal’s stamina but he handled it well...He boxed superbly to instructions and finished the first round 2-2. At the end of the second it was 5-5 and Gamal then went all out to win and stormed to success 11-5...It was a cracking victory and now Gamal can go on and establish his own career and will, for instance, be boxing in the three nations for England at Liverpool at the end of May." Yafai did indeed box in the three nations tournament featuring competitors from England, Wales and Scotland once again meeting Adam Whitfield in the final and once again coming out on top, this time 13-4.