By Jack Tiernan: Anthony Yarde revealed last Saturday night that IBF/WBC welterweight champion Artur Beterbiev would be coming to defend his titles against him in London next October.
If Yarde does get the fight with Beterbiev, there will be many upset boxing fans because they want to see the three-belt champion take on WBA champion Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed championship next.
Yarde (22-2, 21 KOs) said he already knows how to give the unbeaten Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) problems with his superior hand speed and skills.
The popular #1 WBO Yarde was on a scouting run last Saturday to take notes on Beterbiev in his fight against WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Yarde, 30, feels that he saw enough to discover the weaknesses of Beterbiev, and he’ll be ready to take advantage of them when they fight next October in London.
Yarde’s apparent advantages over Beterbiev are hand speed, youth, combination punching, jab, and mobility. Yarde lacks experience, inside fighting ability, stamina, and chin. He gets tired quickly, and his chin isn’t as solid as it should be.
Yarde knows how to trouble Beterbiev
“It was very, very entertaining. From what I saw, it was very entertaining. It was a clash of the titans, and I knew there was going to be some sort of knockout tonight,” said Anthony Yarde to BT Sport Boxing about his thoughts on Artur Beterbiev’s victory over Joe Smith Jr.
“What I’m expecting and what I’ve been told is Beterbiev is going to come to London. So, we’ll create a fantastic atmosphere in London, and that’s going to be entertainment.
“We’ll see when he comes to London,” Yarde said when asked how he’ll defeat Beterbiev. “I feel like everyone is going to have their opinion, and I feel like from what I saw today, I know how to give him a lot of trouble.
“With boxing, it’s one punch, or it’s a punch that when it lands. What I can say for sure is I’m quicker than Beterbiev. From what I’m hearing, it’ll be in London,” Yarde said.
It will be difficult for Yarde to beat Beterbiev in a slugging match because that’ll require a strong chin and top-notch condition, which he’s sorely lacking.
The best method for Yarde to defeat Beterbiev is to box him from the distance, jab, and keep away from his powerful shots. As long as Yarde limits the number of exchanges with Beterbiev, he’s got a good chance of winning.
Yarde had it tough in Russia
“When I fought Kovalev, I went out to Chelyabinsk, which no one still knows where that is in Russia,” said Yarde about his 2019 fight against former WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. “I still don’t know where that is in Russia.
“It’s Kovalev’s back home. We had to have armed security with us. That tells you a little bit about it. There was no hot water for my weigh-in. There was no hot water after the weigh-in.
“They lost my luggage when I got to Russia, and after my weigh-in, I couldn’t get a fresh bottle with clean drinking water for a while after the weigh-in.
“They brought me a bottle that was already opened, and I was not going to drink that. So there are a lot of different things. Destiny, that’s my belief.
“I’ve always had it in my mind that I want to unify the light heavyweight division. There are going to be some interviews years ago where I said that’s what I want to do. It looks like I won’t be able to do it in one fight,” said Yarde.
It seems like Yarde is making excuses for why he lost to Kovalev. He didn’t lose because of the lack of water or because he had security following him.
Kovalev was the better-conditioned fighter, and he took advantage of Yarde’s gassing out in the 11th round by nailing him with a stiff jab that put him down.
As exhausted as Yarde was in that fight, Kovalev could have knocked him out with a feather in the 11th, which he essentially did by throwing a simple jab.