Light heavyweight contender Anthony Yarde, 28-years-old, will be looking to do a lot of damage on Saturday night, when he enters the ring before a hostile crowd in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Yarde will challenge Sergey Kovalev for the WBO world light heavyweight title.
By far, Kovalev is the toughest opponent in the growing career of of the undefeated Yarde.
Frank Warren, who promoted Yarde for his entire career, is backing his man to pull off the biggest victory of his pro career.
Yarde, who secured a mandatory shot, refused to take step-aside money, which would have allowed Kovalev to face Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Both of them are big punchers, and it's up for debate as to which of them is the bigger hitter of the two.
“Kovalev is the No.1 light-heavyweight in the world and Anthony is going to his home town. That says a lot about him that he is willing to go there. Anthony didn’t want to take ‘step aside’ money to let them go and fight Canelo. And from a business view people might say, ‘Oh, that’s stupid’, but it tells you all you need to know about him," Warren told The Mirror.
“He wants the fight, he fancies the fight and he is seriously, seriously up for it. Some of the criticism Anthony has faced has been stupid about the opponents he has had. He has fought opponents who have been spot on for where we’re trying to get him.
“He has fought himself into the No.1 spot, he hasn’t ducked anybody and he has knocked everybody out he has faced. It’s a big step up in level for him and can he outbox Kovalev? We don’t know.
“But if Anthony catches him, he will go. Anybody he catches, they go. It’s a really tough fight but, if he does it, it will be one of the biggest upsets.”
