David Benavidez says his goal is to defeat Anthony Yarde in a “better” fashion than Artur Beterbiev did when he defends his WBC light heavyweight title against him in less than a month on November 22, 2025, in Riyadh.
Benavidez’s Beterbiev Benchmark
Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) states that he’s not sure if he’ll be given the chance to fight the eventual winner of the trilogy match between Dmitry Bivol and Arthur Beterbiev. If not, he wants to fight WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.
It’s too early for Benavidez, 28, to be thinking about fighting someone else. He still has to defeat Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs), who could surprise him with his punching power. Yarde is more explosive and powerful than the other two fighters Benavidez has fought at 175, David Morrell and Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He had a lot of trouble against both of those guys.
“We’re two bulls going at it. It’s going to be a great fight,” said David Benavidez to talkSport Boxing. “Anthony Yarde is a pressure fighter, and I’m a pressure fighter that comes forward too. I want to get a better victory than Artur Beterbiev did. I want to make more of a statement than he did against Anthony Yarde.”
Yarde’s Third and Final Shot
“This is his third attempt at a world title. He knows there’s a lot at stake in this fight. I’ve been working for 4.5 months. I got to keep winning these fights and keep trying to fight the best opponents available,” said Benavidez when asked if he questions whether he’ll get the winner of the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev trilogy match.
Tom Galm’s Viewpoint: Empty Comparisons
It’s a waste of time for Benavidez to be thinking of improving on the performance Beterbiev did. Yarde is 34 now, and not the same guy he was two years ago at 32 when he fought Artur. Knocking him out faster than Beterbiev did won’t prove anything.
If there was a way of fighting Yarde at that moment in his career, he could then prove something. Even then, it still wouldn’t mean that his performance topped what Beterbiev did. He wasn’t trying to KO him as fast as possible. It looked like Beterbiev was focused on breaking him down slowly.