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A fight between two of Britain’s leading lights at 175lbs seems set for later this year.
The Ring had previously reported that Callum Smith – coming off an exciting win over Joshua Buatsi – and Anthony Yarde, recent winner over Lyndon Arthur, could meet later in the year.
Yarde’s trainer, Tunde Ajayi, who has had plenty of spirited exchanges with the Smith family online over the years, told BoxingScene: “The fight was sealed in February,” said Ajayi.
“All we needed to do was get past Lyndon Arthur, so there’s no more ducking, talking bad about anybody, let’s fight. It’s the only fight that makes sense.”
Smith and Yarde form part of a crop that saw the Liverpool man scalp the previously unbeaten Buatsi, Callum Johnson move up to cruiserweight, Craig Richards lose to Willy Hutchinson, who then lost to Buatsi, and Arthur lose his trilogy fight to Yarde. That leaves, according to Ajayi, Yarde – 27-3 (24 KOs) – and 35-year-old Smith, 31-2 (22 KOs), as the last men standing in the division in the UK.
“Callum’s [WBO] interim champion, we’re now rated high in the WBO and the WBA after the fight last Saturday. It’s a fight I’ve personally wanted to see for a very long time. Two of Britain’s best. We will see who really is the number one in Britain. These are the only two names in the conversation now. Nobody else. I repeat, nobody else is in this conversation but Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde. So let’s do it. Let’s go. August, Riyadh. It’s on.”
