Via Craig Daly: Anthony Yarde has a “great chance” about beating IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev this Saturday night, said Gareth A. Davies. The Beterbiev-Yarde event will be shown on ESPN+, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, January 28.
Like many, Gareth still picked Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) to win and potentially continue his straight knockout streak.
Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) has a chance to win the teamfight, but he has to start fast and really put it in the hands of Beterbiev, who turned 38 on January 21.
If Yarde had a better chin & fuel tank, waiting until the later laps would have been the logical route to victory over Beterbiev, but he is bitterly lacking in those two areas.
So Yarde had to duck and chase Beterbiev like an angry bull from the opening bell and capitalize on his hand speed, youth and superior tactics in front of his home crowd in London.
It would be a big shock if Yarde took on the role of Beterbiev, but anything is possible when you have his powers.
Beterbiev has faced weaker fighters than Yarde in the past, being knocked out by Callum Johnson in 2018 and Jeff Page Jr in 2014. Neither of those fighters were able to take down Beterbiev, and he was quick. Eliminate them after coming back to his feet.
It would have been a good idea if Yarde hadn’t angered Beterbiev by being rough with him like Marcus Browne did during their game in December 2021, as that seemed to anger him, leading to housework. undefeated champion scored a bloody knockout in the ninth round.
“Can Anthony Yarde do it? Of course, he can do it. Boxing has always had its shocks, and I think Artur Beterbiev, with 18 wins and 18 knockouts in his 10-year career, that’s an extraordinary record,” said Gareth A. Davies. iFL TV in the match between Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde this Saturday night in London, England.
“I think he is the only champion in the world with a completely spotless knockout record,” Davies continued about Beterbiev. “I think Yarde has to fight and not go too far. I could be wrong about that, but let him fight and try to stop Betterbiev.
“I will definitely book it for him soon without being reckless. and turn it into a dogfight. He’s very strong, he’s capable of taking anyone down, Anthony Yarde, but I don’t think he wants to fall into the rhythm of Betebiev,” Gareth said.
It is debatable whether Yarde should have fought aggressively from the start because he would have hurled Beterbiev’s power to the teeth if he tried to get a tit-for-tat with him. As we saw with what happened to Joe Smith Jr last June, it’s not a good idea to take out Beterbiev early unless you’re armed with a sturdy chin.
“It was an extraordinary war; it’s two punches. Davis continued. “This could be a five-round Hagler-Hearns; you never know, but it’s a great prospect. It’s great to be one of the great world champions [Beterbiev] is here in life and England fans get to meet him.
Crucially, if the match were to go according to the scoreboard, the umpire wouldn’t give a bunch of odd scores, giving Yarde a win if he didn’t win it by performing well.
If Beterbiev is robbed, the foreign world champion will avoid going to England for fear of being treated similarly. There are already some boxing fans who see the UK as the new Germany when it comes to visiting boxers getting short-term results in card fights.
“I hope that [OVO] the arena will be sold out,” said Gareth. “It’s a great opportunity [for Yarde]. Anthony learned from that first experience in August 2019 in Chelyabinsk before Sergey Kovalev. Congratulations to Frank Warren for pushing the boundaries of this fight. Great relationship with Bob Arum.
“We can even see more champions coming here and defending their belts. So it was a great fight. I still like Beterbiev to win in the final rounds, maybe by TKO in the last rounds or maybe by points, but Anthony had a great opportunity here.
“I choose with my head, not with my heart, as I always do. He is [Yarde] go through a lot. He went through a loss and a win against Lyndon Arthur. He avenged that failure.
“As you say, the loss of those family members [of Yarde] must be tough, and he embodies the ‘fight anyone, anywhere, anytime’ attitude. So he has the advantage of being in his own backyard. That’s great for him in this fight.
“He doesn’t have to travel. He can do what he always does, maybe even sleeps in his bed until the night of the fight. Those kinds of advantages are huge psychologically. He really believes; I don’t think there is a doubt about it, yes.
“Beterbiev is kind of a ‘Silent Killer’. He doesn’t give away much during fight week, but it’s fun to try and be open with him. He has great stories; Now he is Canadian. He grew up in Chechnya, of course, Dagestan.
“He is a very, very tough guy, an excellent amateur record. Of course, he has two losses at the world championship and the Olympics to Oleksandr Usyk, who is fighting at heavyweight. It was a great fight; it was a really delicious main event [this Saturday night between Beterbiev and Yarde]. I can’t wait to be there at night.
“It was great to be with them all week. It’s tough,” Gareth said of Chelyabinsk, Russia, where Yarde faced former WBO lightweight champion Kovalev in August 2019 and was eliminated in the 11th round in a competitive match. “I think Kovalev’s mother works there with a crane or a tractor.
“It was a very harsh environment. Look, you know, there’s nothing wrong with taking a cold shower,” Davies said when told Yarde didn’t have warm water to shower when he was in Chelyabinsk for the game against Kovalev four years ago.
