By Keith Idec
Frank Warren has heard and read a lot of the criticism regarding Anthony Yarde’s supposed lack of preparedness for his upcoming title fight against Sergey Kovalev.
England’s Yarde is 18-0 and has knocked out 17 of his pro opponents. The 27-year-old Yarde hasn’t fought a legitimate light heavyweight contender, however, and clearly will take a gigantic step up in competition when he challenges Kovalev (33-3-1, 28 KOs) for his WBO 175-pound championship August 24 in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Kovalev’s hometown.
Whatever you think of Yarde’s level of opposition, Warren would defy anyone to question Yarde’s courage now that he’s headed to Kovalev’s hometown to battle the Russian veteran.
“He got himself into the No. 1 spot,” Warren told IFL TV for a video posted to its YouTube channel Wednesday. “[Kovalev] tried to sidestep it, tried to swerve it [to fight Canelo Alvarez]. He’s now taking the fight and the fight’s on. And that’s where we’re at. And even if [Yarde] got beat, and I don’t think he will, but even if he got beat, it’s experience for him. It’s good experience for him at this stage of the game. But I just feel whoever he catches, if he catches them right, they’ll go.
“It’s all about him now boxing and not just looking for the big punches, but boxing and imposing himself in the other guy’s backyard. I mean, this is not only going to the States. This is not like, you know, bringing him over here [to England]. I mean, we’re going to … It’s far, far east in Russia. And he’s got it all to do. This is where Kovalev comes from. He’s a big star there, so nobody but nobody could ever criticize Anthony Yarde for his balls – nobody.”
Yarde decided to fight Kovalev in Russia because if their mandated championship match went to purse bid, Yarde would’ve been entitled, as the challenger, to only 25 percent of the winning bid. Their fight could’ve been held in England if Warren won the purse bid, but Yarde would’ve made less money.
Regardless, Warren feels Yarde is ready for this type of fight, despite what some fans, media and others think about Yarde’s resume.
“The fact of the matter is the opponents he fought, for the stage of his career, were good, quality opponents for him,” Warren said. “As I said, he only had a limited amount of fights as an amateur. And he fought guys that were undefeated, never been stopped and he stopped all these blokes. You know, he’s done extremely well. And I think a lot of that is inspired by rivals, and I get that. We all understand what goes on in the business. But when you analyze it and look at it properly, he’s done extremely well.”
Yarde has not fought an opponent who was unbeaten before Yarde defeated him. In his last bout, Yarde stopped Baltimore’s Travis Reeves (17-4-2, 7 KOs) in the fifth round March 8 at Royal Albert Hall in London.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.