Ahead of Saturday’s light heavyweight summit between David Benavidez and Anthony Yarde, most think the fight will only go one way. Benavidez is younger, undefeated, and still improving. Yarde is a weathered veteran who is likely past his best days and has been stopped twice.
Lionell Thompson doesn’t count out the 34-year-old Brit, however. Better known as “Lonnie B,” Thompson has become a popular voice in boxing for his evocative and detailed recaps of sparring former undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, not to mention his love for the film The Equalizer. During his career, Thompson fought at 168 and 175lbs and scored an upset win over Jose Uzcategui in 2019 in his final fight to date.
“Anthony Yarde is dangerous,” Thompson told FightHype in a video interview. “He’s a dangerous opponent. He gave Artur a good fight. After being stopped by Kovalev, he still gave Artur a good fight…Yarde got heavy hands. He even hurt Artur. I think Yarde has a chance. Absolutely.”
Yarde’s record, 27-3 (24 KOs), speaks to those heavy hands. And he did indeed hurt Beterbiev, in a wild fifth round that saw both men land their hardest blows. Though Yarde was stopped three rounds later, he is one of only a few fighters to make Beterbiev look mortal before the 40-year-old met his match in Dmitry Bivol. And as Thompson said, that Yarde posed such a stern challenge after having his chin cracked by Sergey Kovalev’s cement fists in 2019 speaks to his resilience.
Yarde’s third loss was to Lyndon Arthur, which he avenged in his last fight in April this year.
Thompson also gave some insight on Benavidez, 30-0 (24 KOs), who he has also sparred with. Benavidez is yet to find his equal in the ring but has compiled an impressive resume nonetheless, including wins over Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and David Morrell in succession. Had Saul “Canelo” Alvarez been willing to fight Benavidez when the boxing world was calling for the matchup, the Mexican star might be on that list as well.
Thompson, however, thinks Benavidez is more vulnerable than you might expect. “He didn’t punch hard to me,” he said. “He was, like, 230[lbs] at the time, and I was 180. Decent punch, but nothing I’m worried about. His fight with David Morrell, he hit him with super-hard shots and couldn’t even budge him. And Morrell hurt David in that fight.
“I think Yarde is a much bigger guy, bigger puncher, and I think if Yarde lands some shots, I think he can be successful.”
The critique of Benavidez’s power is a common one: his last two wins have been over the distance, and his last knockout against Andrade, who was not a natural super middleweight. Since moving up to 175lbs, Benavidez has leaned more on his punch volume and variety, as well as his undersold defense to avoid flush shots.
“I got it a toss-up,” Thompson said of the fight. “I can’t see David stopping Yarde. I could be wrong, he could overwhelm him with activity and get him out of there. But I think Yarde is a lot tougher…people are [saying], ‘oh, he been stopped before.’ Yeah, by two of the biggest punchers of this generation! David ain’t had a knockout since, when?”
