British boxer Galal Yafai has confirmed that he will be moving to professional status.
The boxer, who is from the English city of Birmingham, said that the move happened on Thursday of last week.
Yafai, who is almost 30, has made a long-running agreement with major boxing representation provider Matchroom Sport.
It is believed that his first slot as a professional will be at the end of February.
Record so far
Yafai already has a fantastic record when it comes to boxing.
He secured a gold medal for Great Britain in boxing at the most recent Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Yafai, who formerly worked at the company Land Rover, was also given an MBE as a result of his achievements.
It came as something of a surprise to pundits that Yafai did not make the move towards professional status back in 2016.
It was expected by some that he might do so after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
However, in the end, it made sense for him to wait – with the move now even sweeter.
In the family
Boxing runs in the family for Yafai.
One of his brothers, Kal, was once a boxing world champion, and another brother, Gamal, was formerly a belt holder at European level.
Gamal was in the super bantamweight designation.
Despite this impeccable family track record, however, it is believed that Galal Yafai wants to go for higher prizes.
Pundits suggested that the youngest of the Yafai brothers could go the same way as Anthony Joshua, who also began his career as an amateur before shifting to boxing full-time.
“Be on his level”
In remarks to the press, Yafai said that he was hoping to get as far ahead as Kal did.
“Hopefully I can, I wouldn’t say surpass Kal but be on his level by being a world champion.”
He went on to say that he was not feeling complacent, and that he realized that he would need to be strategic in order to do well.
“I am not deluded enough to think I will go in there and smash everyone. I have to be smart about it, I have to go about it the right way but hopefully I will be challenging for world titles sooner rather than later.”
However, he pointed out that there are not that many people who are both Olympic leaders and world leaders. He told the press;
“There is not many world and Olympic champions around. I don’t know the number of them in Britain. You have AJ, James DeGale, I know there is only a handful.”
He concluded by saying that it would be wonderful for his image if he could join this select group.
“If I can add to it then it would be great for my legacy, great for my name and great for when I look back on my boxing life to say I was Olympic and world champion.”
