By Daniele D’Alessio: Super Middleweight prospect Dexter Makaza is picking Lyndon Arthur to defeat Anthony Yarde on December 4th in their rematch at the Copper Box Arena in the UK.
Dexter is rooting for his stablemate Lyndon Arthur (19-0, 13 KOs) and expects a closer fight than last time. He expects Yarde (21-2, 20 KOs) to press Arthur early and try to throw more combinations to stop him.
But ultimately, Dexter believes that Lyndon is too well-schooled to lose the fight. Arthur was also suffering from an injury to his right arm in their previous bout which could prove to be significant in their rematch. Makaza talks about Arthur’s jab too which is the “best he’s had to deal with”.
When asked about changes to Yarde’s camp and the addition of a second cornerman, Dexter states that there hasn’t been enough time for drastic improvements. According to the super middleweight prospect, Yarde has “fundamental flaws” that Lyndon will capitalize on.
Dexter ends his opinion on Arthur-Yarde by saying “Arthur wins all day for me”. He respects Yarde as a fighter but unsurprisingly he is backing his stablemate.
If the last fight is anything to go off, this should be a very tight affair. Lyndon has an amazing jab that will make it difficult for Yarde to get into range. However, we must assume that Yarde is going to throw caution into the wind and go for it a lot more than last time.
Before their first encounter, Yarde was seen as a precocious talent who was expected to clean up at British level. Despite losing to Sergey Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs) he fought valiantly and his stock rose as a potential world champion.
Since losing to Arthur, the boxing public has been questioning Anthony’s ability and especially his eccentric trainer Tunde Ajayi who seemed to give limited technical advice in the first fight. The phrase “lions in the camp” was being shouted in the corner which was very concerning when Yarde was losing.
In any case, the second fight is a chance for Yarde to prove that he is worth the hype and Tunde to showcase his skills as a boxing coach. Not to mention, the opportunity for Arthur to display how the first fight was not a fluke and he is the superior boxer.
There are still several weeks until the fight takes place. So for the time being, the fans can enjoy the entertaining exchanges between Tunde Ajayi and Arthur’s trainer Pat Barrett in the press conferences to come.
