Via Jake Tiernan: Advertiser Frank Warren is pleased with Anthony Yarde’s performance in his loss to IBF, WBC & WBO lightweight champion Artur Beterbiev last Saturday night at the OVO Arena in London, England.
Warren felt that Yarde (23-3, 22 KOs) showed he was a world-class fighter by taking on the undefeated Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) and taking the lead at the time of the contest. stop at round 1/8.
Warren was so impressed with Yarde’s performance, 31, that he said he would be speaking to Top Rated promoter Bob Arum about competing against him against the former WBO No. lb Joe Smith Jr (28-4, 22 KOs).
It’s unclear if Warren wants to do that fight next or after a few more confidence-boosting sessions for Yarde. Confronting a big boxer like Smith is probably not the wisest thing for Yarde after being knocked out by Beterbiev.
You have to assume that Smith will hold out long enough to land a lot of hard hits on Yarde’s head, and that he won’t go easy on him in the beginning the way Beterbiev did.
Marc Ramsay, Beterbiev’s coach, said that Artur didn’t start fighting actively until the seventh inning, and that’s when he injured Yarde. In the eighth round, Betterbiev finished what he started in the previous round.
Smith won’t waste time before pursuing Yarde, and who knows if he can hold out under that kind of fire?
Beterbiev’s experience shows
“Yes, he has good resilience, and he showed it, and he is a good boxer. He’s very good at what he does around corners, and he slips and turns corners,” Frank Warren said. iFL TV about Artur Beterbiev with the way he turned Anthony Yarde in the corner and beat him up.
Warren said of Betterbiev: “He’s very smart at what he does, but he has a lot of experience, a lot of experience. “He has a lot of amateur experience, and it was his 19th professional game, and the vast experience he has has put him in a good position.
“After that performance, you have to like him more than anyone else,” Warren said of Yarde. “Hopefully, those two [Beterbiev & Dmitry Bivol] will continue, and then we’ll see what happens. All Anthony has to do is keep busy and keep winning.
“If he has more amateur experience, that will help him settle down. He had 12 amateur matches and Beterbiev 300. I think it was a great match. The courage he showed, the skill he showed. He [Yarde] hurt him a few times. Both were arrested; you know the two of you fought,” Warren said.
Yarde is already ahead
“It was a fight against the tide. It was kind of a pendulum fight for a while,” Warren said. “He [Yarde] in front, I made him in front, and the two judges who put him in front were both neutral. They are not British or American. The American judge had him [Yarde] in front of.
“If it were anyone else, he would have been a world champion. Had he been there with Joe Smith, he would have been a world champion. He’s had two world titles with that limited experience,” Warren said of Yarde.
“If it were another champion like Joe Smith, I would imagine he won the match and gained more experience before you go up against a fighter like Beterbiev. He’s 31 and very young 31. It was a great game and a great effort by him.
“He got a lot of respect from it. He said it was the hardest fight he’s ever been in, and that tells you a lot about Anthony. He’s wounded him a few times, but he’s a tough guy, Beterbiev, and he’s an incredibly good fighter.
“In the first round, he threw some nice jabs, and then he caught him with three very good left hooks, one after the other. I was told that he was a better boxer than people appreciated him for, and he showed it. In some ways, it is for experience, and so is it. He is [Yarde] Warren has gone up a notch from where he was and now he’s shown himself to be world class,” Warren said.
What’s next for Yarde?
“I know he stopped. Having said that, he took the lead and he proved that he was in that company,” Warren said of Yarde. “Both of them take really good pictures, and you can’t stand watching it. I wanted Anthony to win, but he showed himself and made British boxing proud.
“He is only 31 years old and I believe he can do it. He walks better. That’s where he’s world class. I think if he had the right tactics, he could have won the game. That was before the battle. On that night, the better man won, but he definitely showed that he was on that level.
“He gave him [Beterbiev] a tough, tough fight. You just have to look at him after the battle. You look at Betterbiev’s face; you know the punishment he received. I will talk to Bob [Arum] about it. It’s going to be a great fight,” Warren said of Yarde’s next match against former WBO lightweight champion Joe Smith Jr.
“I’m sure his management has a different view, but it will be a great fight to make. I’m so proud of what he’s done,” Warren said.
