The co-feature to Yafai-Carmona will see an all-Filipino world title clash between fellow 115-pounders Jerwin Ancajas, who currently holds the IBF strap, and Jonas Sultan, with the expectation that the winners of each bout will face each other down the line in a unification showdown.
The event will provide some welcome Stateside exposure for former amateur standout Yafai, who competed on the international stage for his country at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and won a silver medal at the 2010 European Championships in Moscow. The talented Birmingham-based boxer-puncher has continued to prosper as a professional under the promotion of Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, moving his way steadily up the ranks and winning a slew of titles on his way to outclassing Luis Concepcion for the WBA belt in December 2016.
Carmona only turned twenty-seven-years-old earlier this month, but is a “young” ring veteran. Although the Mexican fighter has faced some of the best super flyweights of his generation, he has fallen short on every occasion that he has stepped up in class.
He first challenged for a world title in 2013 against long-time champion Omar Narvaez who, at thirty eight years of age, was thought to be on the downslide but still had too far much for Carmona, schooling the younger man, dropping him and stopping him in the seventh round. His second title shot came in 2016 against Naoya Inoue who had dethroned the aforementioned Narvaez in a two-round shellacking. On that occasion, Carmona was widely outpointed, but became only the second man to go the distance with ‘The Monster’ who effectively fought half the fight one-handed after injuring his right in the middle rounds.
The loss to Inoue would kickstart a three-fight losing streak for Carmona, with a competitive decision loss to Carlos Cuadras following, on a conspicuous off-night for the former WBC titlist. Carmona’s next fight against journeyman Daniel Lozano, who he had previously beaten, was however a complete disaster. Lozano, taking the fight on twenty four hours notice, gained sweet revenge by knocking Carmona silly in the second round. Fighting only once once since then – stopping 20-10-5 Jesus Uribe – is not the kind of recent form which bodes well against a world-class operator like Yafai.
The long and short of it is that Carmona has zero business being in a World title fight.
In the past, he has been able to hang with opponents boasting a superior skill-set through sheer toughness and doggedness but there are only so many trips you can make to the watering hole before it dries up. He is, crudely speaking, the sacrificial lamb for Yafai to look his best against in front of an American audience.
Although Yafai has not exactly looked scintillating in his last two fights, he is a legitimately-skilled World champion who has passed every test placed in front of him thus far in his career, largely unchallenged. In the circumstances, there is no excuse for him to win in anything less than emphatic fashion on Saturday night.
Expect him to do so, paving the way for match-ups against the elite fighters of his division and the opportunity to demonstrate that he truly belongs there with them.
Prediction:Yafai by mid-rounds stoppage
Article by: Paul Lam
You can follow Paul on Twitter at:@PaulTheWallLam