Khalid Yafai (left, sparring with Irfan Ali) has been a member of the GB Boxing team since he was sixteen, and is the first Englishman to win the World Cadet Title (2005).
He also competed in the Beijing Olympic Games. The son of Yemeni parents, Yafai joined his local boxing club, Birmingham City, where the founding coach Frank O’Sullivan spotted his talent. Over a fifty-five-year coaching career O’Sullivan’s young boxers have included Robert McCracken, Ricky Hatton and Amir Khan. Yafai lost his chance to compete at London 2012 Olympic Games in a box off against fellow Team GB flyweight Andrew Selby.
‘It’s very important that I train in a gym at home, it’s where I was brought up. It’s good to come back and show my face, especially to young kids who train here as well. They can look up to me and get to where I am one day.’ Khalid Yafai