Anthony Yarde was always confident another world title opportunity would come his way and predicts a “barn shootout” with WBC light-heavyweight champion David Benavidez on Saturday.
British boxer Yarde was involved in a thriller with Artur Beterbiev at the start of 2023 at Wembley Arena and hurt the pound-for-pound great, but failed in his improbable bid to unify the 175lb division when his corner stopped the fight in the eighth round.
The 34-year-old was unable to use his gutsy display against Beterbiev as a springboard, but low-key wins over Jorge Silva, Marko Nikolic and Ralfs Vilcans were followed by a successful trilogy bout with old rival Lyndon Arthur, so Saudi kingpin Turki Alalshikh personally requested Yarde.
Asked if he feared no further world-title shot, Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) told the PA news agency: “Absolutely not. I know what I bring to the table and I am ranked very high. I always have been.
“After the Beterbiev fight, my ranking didn’t move and – again, on paper – people say it’s a loss, but then I beat another person who is high and I am back up the rankings.
“Turki Alalshikh said he wanted me personally for this fight. I spoke to him and he said he wanted me. He said, ‘Every fight, you fight and this is a headliner,’ so that was the conversation about why he wanted me to fight Benavidez.”
Ilford-born Yarde gained a lot of credit for his display versus Beterbiev, which occurred after a difficult build-up. An original October date got pushed back to January, and Yarde had a tune-up fight in November in between.
However, the preparation was better than his first world-title shot against Sergey Kovalev that was accepted at six weeks notice and took place in Chelyabinsk.
This occasion is different, with Yarde having almost four months to prepare and the recruitment of strength and conditioning coach Ruben Tabares has added to the general feeling that the “Beast From The East” is “different” ahead of a third attempt at becoming world champion.
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“No, I was upset, man. I don’t care who the person is, I don’t like to lose a fight,” Yarde reflected on defeat to Beterbiev. “My mentality is I don’t care who you are, I will beat you up. It’s the same for Benavidez but I am a different person now.
“Ruben Tabares has come along and he is helping with the timing of certain things, so, it’s coming [together]. Again, that is what makes me feel more prepared. It is little things and learning curves.”
Yarde’s front-foot approach and ability to rise to the biggest of occasions adds intrigue before Saturday night despite his underdog status against Benavidez, who only stepped up to the light-heavyweight division last year.
“He is spiteful, I am spiteful, I like to win my fights by knock-out and so does he. We have both had the same amount of professional fights. I feel like if I didn’t know myself and him, and I saw these two guys, I would say that is going to be swingers,” Yarde smiled.
“I know and can see when it’s going to be a good fight and it’s the same thing. I know what styles do, I know the way both of us fight, it’s due to be a barn shootout!”
