By Jake Tiernan: Artur Beterbiev’s trainer Marc Ramsay says the game plan for last Saturday’s fight against Anthony Yarde was to start slow because the British fighter is dangerous from rounds one through six but then loses energy rapidly after the midway point.
Ramsay said he didn’t care if Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) gave away early rounds to Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) because he was confident that Artur would take advantage of his gassed-out opponent in the second half to knock him out, which is what he did in stopping Anthony in the eighth round.
It didn’t matter that two of the judges had Yarde ahead 68-65 and 67-66; their peculiar scores would have no bearing on the outcome. It was interesting that one judge had Yarde up 5-2 going into the eighth round because that score made no sense.
Yarde looked tired early in the fight, losing his mouthpiece twice and fighting with his mouth wide open from the third round.
Although Yarde is known for having stamina problems, he made things worse for himself by moving a lot in the first three rounds, trying to keep from getting knocked out by Beterbiev.
Yarde’s trainer likely assumed that Beterbiev would be less dangerous in the second half of the fight, and that was a faulty assumption.
Beterbiev started slow
“We already knew before the fight that Anthony Yarde is the type of boxer that can generate a lot of power, especially from round one to five or six. He has a tendency after that to lose a lot of energy,” said Beterbiev’s trainer Marc Ramsay to Boxing King Media.
“We wanted to start the fight very slowly and not get caught by a stupid punch and good defense, just box, even if we lose rounds, was not panic because we knew at one point that we would bring him to the zone that we want like the second part of the fight,” said Ramsay about Yarde.
“It’s professional boxing. It’s twelve rounds, it’s not a sprint, and we knew at one point we were going to catch him and finish the fight. It’s more about Artur. For Artur, it was something maybe new, but Artur is emotionally very stable.
“He’s not a guy that is going to be overly excited or depressed about something. He’s a guy that is always in the same mood,” said Ramsay when asked if Beterbiev was negatively impacted by the pro-Yarde British crowd.
Bivol is the fight Beterbiev wants
“Of course, the fight that we want is the fight with Bivol,” said Ramsay. “It’s not a question of Bivol. It’s not personal. He has the last belt, the belt that we want. No other fight. Especially with Artur. A lot of fighters fight for money.
“This is what the target. Artur is not a question of money. He wants to have that belt. It’s not about how many millions he can do. It’s just we want that belt.
“We will see. He’s going one fight at a time,” said Ramsay when asked how much longer the 38-year-old Beterbiev has in the sport before he retires. “He’s very disciplined for years. Artur never drinks alcohol in his life and never goes out. He’s just focused on his job as a professional boxer and taking care of his family.
“Right now, he’s receiving the salary of all those years of being disciplined, and at 38, he can still perform at a very, very high level, and we don’t see yet any slowing down in his metabolism,” said Ramsay.
Artur the hardest puncher
“There are two Arturs. This is what you see when he’s fighting and what he is when you pass all the days with him,” Ramsay said. “He’s a guy that is making a lot of jokes with a great sense of humor. He’s a fun guy to be around, but when it’s time to fight, it’s time to fight with him.
“As a human, he’s a great person. Even if you ask him, he will tell you that he would prefer to do another job. He doesn’t like to beat up people. That’s something that he doesn’t like, but this is the way that he feeds his family.
“There is no doubt, I think,” said Ramsay when asked if Beterbiev is the hardest puncher in world boxing. “Nobody did what he did. Also, to be able to generate power with all punches, not only one punch, and in every round.
“He can hurt you in the first round, or he can knock you out as he did before, like he did with guys like Enrico Kolling when he won for the first time the IBF world championship in round 12. He still generated power the whole fight,” said Ramsay about Beterbiev.
