Artur Beterbiev: record, next fight and profile →
Anthony Yarde has climbed the highest of mountains and brazenly shouted to all that would listen that Artur Beterbiev’s unified reign is on the verge of coming to an end. A trifecta of stoppage victories has convinced the Londoner of his audacious claims.
Artur Beterbiev has not bothered trying to get in the face of Anthony Yarde in the build-up to their world light-heavyweight title fight this week, which is a good thing, because Yarde is a hard man to intimidate.
By Cliff Rold - When the bombs start flying between two men with near perfect knockout percentages, all we can do is sit, watch, and wait. Someone is hitting the showers early. Defending lineal light heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev is a heavy favorite to win on Saturday at Wembley (ESPN+, 3:30 PM EST), and for good reason. Challenger Anthony Yarde might have an almost perfect knockout mark (22 in 25 fights), but he’s also lost twice and been stopped once.
Frank Warren is certain Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde won’t go 12 rounds Saturday night in London. Yarde’s promoter is less convinced that most oddsmakers got it right when they established Beterbiev as a 9-1 favorite to beat his contender in their fight for Beterbiev’s IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight titles. Warren naturally considers Yarde a live underdog against the Russian knockout artist.
Former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev is backing his amateur rival, Artur Beterbiev, in the mandatory fight with Anthony Yarde. Back in 2019, Kovalev made a mandatory defense against Yarde in Russia.
Artur Beterbiev, Yarde Weights Photos Gallery - Top Rank Boxing on ESPN presented by AutoZone: Beterbiev vs. Yarde will stream live this Saturday, Jan. 28, at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT exclusively on ESPN+ in the U.S. The event takes place at OVO Arena Wembley in London, England.
Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde continued to show nothing but respect for each other after they made weight Friday afternoon in London. Neither fighter said a word on stage as they faced off for cameras a day before their light heavyweight title fight at OVO Arena Wembley in London.
Artur Beterbiev turned 38 on Saturday, which makes him one of boxing’s oldest reigning world champions. You wouldn’t know it, according to his assistant trainer. In fact, John Scully has never seen the type of improvement from a boxer Beterbiev’s age that the unbeaten IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion has made in recent years.
One of Anthony Yarde’s greatest regrets is that he didn’t seize the moment when he had Sergey Kovalev hurt during the eighth round of their light heavyweight title fight three years ago.
British champion Dan Azeez has lifted the lid on his month-long sparring experience with unified light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.