Galal Yafai inflicted a one-sided stoppage loss on Sunny Edwards who announced his retirement after the flyweight fight in Birmingham.
Yafai moved within touching distance of a world title shot after the referee stepped in to prevent any more punishment for Edwards, who had earlier told his corner, ‘I don’t want to be here,’ amid a vicious onslaught.
Yafai went on the offensive from the off, pinning Edwards to the ropes in the first minute of the fight and unleashed both hands, catching his opponent with a left cross, right hook combination.
Edwards took a series of second-round body shots, with Yafai shrugging off counter punches from the Londoner, who told his corner his legs had gone during the interval, and found himself under intense pressure in the third.
Edwards announced his retirement after the loss to Yafai
Yafai maintained his dominance over the fourth and fifth rounds as Edwards visibly wilted and he landed a series of right hooks in the sixth before the referee called a halt after a minute and 10 seconds.
Edwards, who tasted defeat for the second time in his 23-fight career, swiftly announced his decision to retire, saying: “I’ll be real, if I won the fight, I was going into the sunset. This is the last thing that I wanted to do, get that scalp of the Olympic [champion].”
He added: “If I’m being perfectly honest, my body’s falling apart, man. I’ve got bad ankles, I’ve got bad wrists, I’ve got bad shoulders, I’ve got a bad back – everything about me is bad at this moment.”
Yafai, who lost to Edwards on a split decision when the pair fought as amateurs in 2015, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I was scared going into camp, worried what Sunny could do to me.
“I sparred him, he was hard to spar, he’s beaten me before, he’s been the man in the division, so I had to train as hard as I could to compete with him.”
