Count Anthony Joshua among the British boxing fans that are anxious to see Joshua Buatsi and Anthony Yarde go at it in a domestic light heavyweight showdown.
The IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion manages Buatsi and obviously would want the 2016 Olympian to win. Joshua knows, however, that the hard-hitting Yarde would give the Ghanaian-born Brit a difficult fight.
“Against Anthony Yarde? As a fan, 100 percent, I’d like that,” Joshua said during an episode of “The Boxing Show” on Sky Sports. “The lion Yarde against the lone wolf Buatsi. The meat of the jungle. Two wild animals coming together to slug it out. One is an Olympian. The other is [an] East London-bred fighter from the Peacock Gym. So different. Like me and Dillian Whyte. I was the Olympian. Dillian was the south London-bred, rough fighter. A contrast that made for a great fight.”
The 30-year-old Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs), an Olympic gold medalist in 2012, stopped London’s Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) in the seventh round of their December 2015 fight at O2 Arena in London. Whyte has won 11 straight fights since suffering his lone loss.
The 27-year-old Buatsi (12-0, 10 KOs) is much more likely to battle another Brit, Callum Johnson, before Yarde would become a potential opponent. The hard-hitting Johnson (18-1, 13 KOs) would be a step up in class for Buatsi, as would Yarde.
The 28-year-old Yarde (19-1, 18 KOs) is supposed to box another unbeaten but untested Brit, Lyndon Arthur, this summer. Yarde and Arthur (16-0, 12 KOs) were set to meet July 11 on the Daniel Dubois-Joe Joyce undercard, but it isn’t clear when they’ll fight due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yarde tested Sergey Kovalev in the biggest fight of Yarde’s career, but he faded late in that fight for Kovalev’s WBO 175-pound crown. Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs) stopped Yarde with a jab in the 11th round August 24 in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Kovalev’s hometown.
“I believe in Buatsi,” Joshua said. “He is talented, but he has to step his game up. Yarde went to the world level against Kovalev and was beaten, but that experience does something to you, providing you don’t lose the hunger.”
Yarde believes the Buatsi bout eventually will happen, even though he is promoted by Frank Warren and Warren’s bitter rival, Eddie Hearn, promotes Buatsi.
“The best need to fight the best at the end of the day, and that’s the only way that there’s any proof,” Yarde stated during that same “The Boxing Show” episode. “The fight a lot people want, that I’ve wanted for years now, it’s me and Joshua Buatsi. He keeps doing what he’s doing, I come back and keep doing what I’m doing, it’s a massive fight.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
