Yafai stops Carmona, retains WBA 115lb title

Photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

In his U.S. debut, unbeaten WBA super flyweight champion Khalid Yafai (24-0, 15 KOs) scored a seventh round TKO over David Carmona (21-6-5, 9 KOs) on Saturday night at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Yafai dropped Carmona in rounds one, four and five, but was deducted a point by referee Raul Caiz for hitting Carmona when he was on the deck in round five. The fight ended when Carmona didn’t come out for round eight.

Yafai risked losing his belt by taking the fight after Carmona weighed 3.6 pounds heavy (if Carmona had won, the title would have become vacant).

After the fight, Yafai stated “I’m going to sit down with my team, sit down with my promoter, Eddie Hearn, and we’ll see what it’s about. He’s always got big plans for me, and earn with Hearn, baby!

“It was a great fight for the fans at home. I’m sure they enjoyed it. What a way to start my U.S. debut. I put on a show and all that.”