Via Craig Page: Anthony Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) feels that he is “ready” to topple IBF, WBC & WBO lightweight champion Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) on January 28 in the match of them at the OVO Arena in London, England.
It will be a huge disappointment if Yarde beats Beterbiev, opening the door for a big payday against the 175 lb WBA champion Dmitry Bivol or Canelo Alvarez.
Yarde, 31, said he has matured as a fighter since losing to Sergey Kovalev and Lyndon Arthur. He’s not the boxer who lost to those guys, and he considers Betterbiev, 37, someone to beat.
Yarde has performed brilliantly in his last three games, stopping Alex Theron Stefani Koykov and Lyndon Arthur.
“It wouldn’t come to my mind, ‘Don’t go in there with this guy. He’s a killer puncher.’ That’s boxing, and in the pro boxing ring, I’ve knocked a lot more people out,” Anthony Yarde said. Behind the Gloves on his belt shot against IBF, WBC & WBO lightweight champion Artur Beterbiev on January 28.
“It may be a different size, but it’s still a chin, it’s still a person. I will show myself and my abilities. I am not afraid of any man on this planet because I feel capable, and if I do, I will focus on that positive possibility for myself.
“I don’t feel like anyone follows the challenges that I go for. I like it. This is something I thrive on. Now I’m doing it again,” Yarde said of him fighting another dangerous Russian fighter.
“I like it this way. I’m hearing all this about Callum Smith. ‘You need to have this fight; you need to have that fight.’ I’m really only focused on one thing at a time,” Yarde said when asked if he would face WBA lightweight champion Dmitry Bivol next if he successfully beat Beterbiev.
“I can have this fight and be offered to fight against someone else. It could be Bivol, it could be Canelo. Exactly, it could be Tyson Fury for the undisputed. It was one fight at a time.
“It was this victory, enjoying the victory, and then being in the spotlight for the rest of my career. I’m a stubborn person and I want to finish what I want to achieve in light weight first,” Yarde said when asked if he would ever advance to cruiser class.
“I will not turn down an opportunity. This time the opportunity came, and it felt right.
“Reconstruction and growth,” Yarde said of the past two years. “I fought Kovalev when I was 28 years old. I have no experience. Now, I feel I’m ready.
“A lot of people will retire. A lot of people will eventually get discouraged, but my beliefs are so strong,” Yarde said of his reaction to past failures against Sergey Kovalev and Lyndon Arthur.
