Early career A 22-year-old Yafai turned professional in May 2014 at the
First Direct Arena in
Leeds on a Sky Sports card promoted by
Matchroom Sport. Yafai defeated Ricky Leach via a 1st-round TKO in a scheduled four round fight. Ten days later, Yafai fought on the undercard of
Froch-Groves II at
Wembley Stadium against Jack Heath. Referee wisely stopped contest in round 1 with just 20 seconds remaining. Health was down twice, first from a head shot, and then a left hook to the body. On 12 July, Yafai defeated 31-year-old Spanish journeyman Reynaldo Cajina on points. Referee John Latham scored it 40–36 to Yafai. Two months later, Yafai faced off against French boxer Sofian Bellahcene at
Wembley Arena, outpointing him (60–54) on the referee scorecard. After a 6-month lay off, Yafai returned to the boxing ring in March 2015, beating Polish boxer
Krzysztof Rogowski at the Ice Arena in Hull via 3rd-round TKO. Two months later, Yafai fought at the
Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham beating Spanish boxer Arnoldo Solano (14–7, 0 KOs) via points decision. The referee scored it 80–71 for Yafai. In August, Yafai defeated Spanish boxer Angel Lorente at the
Craven Park Stadium in Hull via a 6-round points decision, after knocking him down once in round 5. The referee Michael Alexander scored it 60–53. On 17 October 2015, Yafai was scheduled in his first ever 10 round bout as a professional at the Barclaycard Arena against Tanzanian boxer Nasibu Ramadhani. This was also a
Commonwealth super-bantamweight title eliminator. Yafai defied an injured left hand to earn a comprehensive 99–91 points victory. Yafai sustained the injury inside the opening three rounds and was put on the back foot, but regained his composure in the fifth and was on top by the sixth as he started landing hooks on Ramadhani, who struggled to connect.
Domestic and Regional Yafai vs. Jenkinson On 5 March 2016, in his ninth professional fight, Yafai stopped Bobby Jenkinson (9–1–1, 2 KOs) in seven rounds at the
Genting Arena in Birmingham to take the
Commonwealth super-bantamweight title. yafai picked up a cut four rounds in but followed up with a blistering show that ended with two knockdowns. The first knockdown coming from a straight left and the second from a left hook to the body. The victory took Yafai to 9–0, gave him his first belt and showed the watching boxing world he has the talent to follow in the footsteps of
Carl Frampton and
Scott Quigg in the future.
Yafai vs. Wale It was announced that Yafai would make a first defence of his title at the
First Direct Arena on 30 July. His opponent was announced to be
Josh Wale (20–8–2, 11 KOs). Yafai was taken the 12 round distance for the first time since turning professional in 2014, making a first successful defence of his Commonwealth title. Yafai started off sharp and cut Wale over the right eye in the round 1, although a replay showed that it was due to a clash of heads. The three judges scored it 118–111, 117–112, 117–112, all in favour of Yafai. Yafai was due to defend his Commonwealth title on 22 October 2016 against Sean Davis at the
Barclaycard Arena on the undercard of
Gavin-
Eggington, however on 17 October Yafai had to pull out after injuring his ankle in a training session. Paul Economides instead fought Davis for the vacant
WBC International title and Gamal's brother
Kal was also added to the card which was a warm-up fight.
Yafai vs. Gigolashvili On 22 February 2017, Yafai lost his Commonwealth super bantamweight title after failing to take part in a mandatory. On 27 February, promoter Eddie Hearn announced that Yafai would travel to Germany for his first fight not on home soil on the undercard of the
WBA (regular) light middleweight title fight between
Demetrius Andrade and
Jack Culcay at the
Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in
Ludwigshafen,
Rhineland-Palatinate. Yafai put on a concrete display throughout the six round fight to win via unanimous decision against Georgian journeyman Khvicha Gigolashvili.
Yafai vs. Davis On 15 March, it was confirmed that Yafai would finally get a chance to compete for the
WBC International title against undefeated titlist
Sean Davis on the undercard of Kal's first world title defence at the
Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham on 13 May 2017. Yafai knocked Davis down six times winning the fight via stoppage in round 7. The first knockdown came in round 3, two more knockdowns following in round 5 and a further three knockdowns in round 7 before the fight was halted. Two of the knockdowns in round 7 where due to hard body shots.
Yafai vs. Starkey In December 2017, Yafai spoke to Sky Sports discussing 2017 as a frustrating year. He stated that he wanted to fight British champion Thomas Patrick Ward in 2018. Yafai was scheduled to fight at the
York Hall in London on 13 December, which Yafai said would help 'get rid of ring-rust'. This would mark the first time Yafai would fight at York Hall as a professional. Yafai fought a scheduled six round bout against Liverpool boxer Ricky Starkey, stopping him in the third round. Yafai next planned to fight again in January 2018.
Yafai vs. McDonnell On 22 December,
Eddie Hearn announced that Yafai would make his first defence of the WBC International title against fellow British rival and former world title challenger
Gavin McDonnell (18–1–2, 5 KOs) at the
FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield on the undercard of
Kell Brook's return bout on 3 March 2018. Yafai opened the
Okolie vs.
Chamberlain card at the O2 Arena in London on 3 February 2018 stopping Jose Hernandez in round 3 of their scheduled six round fight. McDonnell showed he had too much experience for Yafai in beating him via a 12 round unanimous decision, also winning the WBC International title. McDonnell used his height and reach advantage to win majority of the rounds, whilst also being more active. The three judges scored the fight 116–112, 116–112 and 117–113 in favour of McDonnell. In defeat, Yafai did well to land the occasional shots but ultimately could not keep up his work rate to match McDonnell.
Yafai vs. Aguilar Yafai's next fight date was announced in July 2018, to be part of the JD: NXTGEN card on 4 August at the
Ice Arena in
Cardiff, Wales. He was also scheduled to fight at the
Arena Birmingham on 8 September 2018. He fought Nicaraguan boxer Jose Aguilar in a 6 round fight and stopped him with a left hook body shot in round 3.
Yafai vs. Mairena Yafai was next scheduled to fight in his home city of Birmingham on 8 September on the
Amir Khan vs.
Samuel Vargas card. In a scheduled 8 round bout, Yafai knocked out Nicaraguan boxer Brayan Mairena in round 7.
Yafai vs. Rigoldi On 17 December 2020, Yafai fought Luca Rigoldi, who was ranked #12 by the WBC and #13 by the IBF at super bantamweight. Yafai beat Rigoldi on points after twelve rounds of action.
Yafai vs. Cunningham In his next bout, Yafai faced Jason Cunningham. In a close fight, Cunningham managed to edge out Yafai and win the fight via unanimous decision, 115-110, 114-111 and 114-111. == Professional boxing record ==