Early career Yafai faced Carlos Vado Bautista for the vacant
WBC International
flyweight title on 27 February 2022, in his professional debut, on the undercard of the
Lawrence Okolie and
Michal Cieslak cruiserweight title bout. He captured the regional title by a fifth-round technical knockout, as Bautista's corner decided to throw in the towel near the end of the round. Yafai successfully defended his WBC International flyweight title against
Miguel Cartagena on 30 April 2022, in his United States debut, on the undercard of the
Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano title unification bout, via a second round corner retirement. On April 6, 2024 in Las Vegas, Yafai stopped
Agustin Mauro Gauto in the eighth round and retained his WBC International flyweight title. Yafai stopped Sergio Oliva in round three at
Canon Medical Arena in Sheffield, England, on 28 September 2024.
WBC interim flyweight championship Yafai vs. Edwards Discussions commenced in August 2024 for Yafa to compete against
Sunny Edwards (21-1, 4 KOs) for the vacant interim WBC flyweight title. Eddie Hearn confirmed this, stating that he was "working hard" to facilitate the match. Edwards recovered from his defeat to
Jesse Rodriguez by securing a technical decision victory against
Adrian Curiel in June, positioning himself favourably to re-enter the title contention. On 13 September, the fight was made official, to take place at
bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham, England on 30 November 2024. The fight was billed as
Bloodline, due to the history of the families. Edwards said, “This fight has always been inevitable. Our last names hold weight in British boxing and around the world – and it’s really time to put to bed the Edwards-Yafai Saga." Yafai was excited at the opportunity, stating, “This is going to be a massive fight for British boxing. I need to win a World Title, and this is a fight that will put me on the cusp of fighting for one when I win in my hometown on November 30.” Both showed respect towards each other during fight week. Edwards weighed 111 pounds and Yafai weighed 111.4 pounds. In a significant match, Yafai secured victory over Edwards by TKO in the sixth round, thereby claiming the WBC interim flyweight title. Yafai employed consistent pressure and striking effectiveness to achieve the win. Yafai established dominance early in the match by landing a powerful right hook that appeared to impact Edwards significantly within the first few seconds. He sustained continuous pressure, preventing Edwards from establishing his rhythm. By the second round, Edwards displayed clear signs of distress, communicating to his corner, "I don’t want to be here," indicating the difficulties he was experiencing in the fight. Yafai continued to apply pressure, effectively cutting off the ring and landing combinations while Edwards was unable to respond positively. Throughout the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, Yafai showcased a superior work rate, landing numerous clean shots while keeping Edwards on the defensive. Edwards landed the occasional counter-punch. The bout concluded in the sixth round when Yafai delivered a series of punches that left Edwards unable to protect himself. The referee halted the match one minute and ten seconds into the round to prevent any additional harm to Edwards. Yafai gained revenge on his loss to Edwards in their amateur days. After the match, Edwards announced his retirement, recognizing the physical toll that boxing had imposed on him. He stated that his body was "falling apart" and noted a diminishing passion for the sport that had previously motivated him. Yafai articulated his dissatisfaction regarding the lack of recognition for his victory over Edwards, asserting that excuses had eclipsed his accomplishment. He noted that many considered Edwards a formidable opponent beforehand and were now grappling with the implication that his win was less significant due to assertions that Edwards was not in peak condition. Yafai emphasized his respect for Edwards while addressing the remarks made by Edwards following their match.
Yafai vs. Rodríguez Yafai was scheduled to make his first defence against veteran, former
mini flyweight world champion
Francisco Rodríguez Jr. (39–6–1, 27 KOs). The fight went to purse bids, with a winning bid of $222,000 by sole bidders
Matchroom Boxing in March 2025. In April, the card was announced to take place at the bp Pulse LIVE, with
Shabaz Masoud vs.
Peter McGrail as the headline on 21 June 2025. Masoud was forced to withdraw from his fight, pushing Yafai and Rodríguez to main event. Yafai lost the belt and his unbeaten professional record via a lopsided unanimous decision. The scorecards read 119–108, 119–108, and 118–109 all in favour of Rodríguez. He applied a non-stop attack from the beginning, while Yafai was never allowed to get close to hurting him. Yafai showed a lot of heart to hear the final. By mid fight, both boxers were cut around the eyes. Yafai was dropped in the seventh round, only for the referee to not call it a knockdown. it was evident from here that Yafai needed a stoppage, but he could not keep up with the pace Rodríguez had set. Prior to the ninth round, both men were checked over by the ringside doctor. Yafai was dropped in the twelfth round, but beat the count. His trainer
Rob McCracken had the towel in his hands from this point, but allowed his boxer to hear the final bell. Yafai's promoter Eddie Hearn argued allowing Yafai to continue taking heavy shots later in the fight. He said, “It's difficult. Maybe once you get to [Round] 10 or 11 and there isn't really … it's not looking like there's a way back in the fight. I mean, I looked over at Rob McCracken, he had his towel in the 12th round ready to go in, and obviously when he got dropped, but Galal did a good job of holding. But he took a lot of punishment in the last part of the fight.” Rodríguez was now the mandatory for full champion
Kenshiro Teraji. Rodríguez threw over 1000 punches, landing over half of them.
CompuBox showed Rodríguez landed 575 of 1089 punches thrown (53%), a flyweight record and Yafai connected with 230 of his 795 thrown (34%). On 9 July 2025, Matchroom Boxing revealed that Rodríguez had tested positive in his post-fight anti-doping test, administered by VADA. He returned an "adverse analytical finding" according to the statement. On 27 July, Yafai was re-instated as the interim WBC champion, but ordered to a rematch against Rodríguez, who was placed on a 12 month probation. The WBC concluded its investigation, stating that Rodríguez did not intentionally consume any substances to enhance his performance. On 30 March 2026, Rodríguez was given a two-year ban from boxing in the UK, backdated from 30 July 2025. UKAD did not claim intentional doping, suggesting the possibility of unintentional ingestion or other mitigating factors. The result was finally changed to a
no contest on March 30, 2026.
Yafai vs. Sandoval On August 14, the
WBC reversed its previous decision and mandated
Ricardo Sandoval (27–2, 18 KOs) to defend his WBC title against Yafai. Sandoval, who also held the WBA championship, secured his unified status by defeating
Kenshiro Teraji in July. Purse bids took place on 13 March 2026, which was won by Matchroom Boxing, who outbid the Golden Boy Promotions. The winning bid was $625,000. As per WBC rules 90% of the winning bid ($562,500), was to be split between the boxers, with Sandoval receiving 55% ($309,375) and Yafai receiving 45% ($253,125). The remaining 10% ($62,500) then given to the winner. On 13 April, Sandoval's manager, Abraham Perez, stated that an announcement was expected for the fight to take place on 6 June in Sheffield, as a co-main event on the
Dalton Smith vs.
Alberto Puello undercard. The fight was formally announced on 17 April, taking place at
Sheffield Arena. On 27 April, Smith pulled out of the card due to an injury, which pushed Yafai's fight to headline the card. ==Professional boxing record==