Via Charles Brun: Former IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev predicts 175 lb unified champion Artur Beterbiev will “break down” challenger Anthony Yarde for six rounds on Saturday night at the OVO Arena in London, England.
Kovalev is familiar with Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs), after knocking him out in the 11th round in August 2019 in Russia. Sergey feels that Yarde hasn’t made enough progress since he fought him 4 years ago because he hasn’t played against anyone talented enough to prepare him to face Beterbiev (18-0). , 18 KOs).
For whatever reason, Yarde’s promoter hasn’t thrown him deep against any talented lightweight opponent since he lost to Kovalev. As a result, Yarde doesn’t have the experience needed to give him a fighting chance to beat the IBF/WBC/WBO champion Beterbiev, in Kovalev’s view.
It was too late for Yarde to gain experience against quality opponents to prepare for this fight. The result is, Yarde will have to give it wings and hope for the best.
If Yarde loses, he should talk to the promoter about pairing him with better fighters so he’ll be ready the next time he fights for a world title, if there’s a next time.
Kovalev believes Yarde may have improved since fighting him, but he doesn’t think he’s good enough to beat a fighter like Beterbiev.
Once again, the dreaded mid lane opposition Yarde has fought for the past four years will eventually hold him back, leaving him no chance to upset Beterbiev.
“He is very strong and naturally healthy, and now, he has a lot of experience from amateurs and more than ten professional matches and all by KO,” Sergey Kovalev told RingIQ TV about Artur Betterbiev.
“Anthony Yarde is currently not ready to fight Artur Betterbiev because he doesn’t have the test like in real fights,” Kovalev continued. “When he fought me, I ran out of energy because I lost a lot of weight for 34th lightweight; I should have moved on to the next division because I couldn’t get to 175 and 2019 for me was the hardest year of my boxing career.
“My first match was scheduled for June and then rescheduled for August. It was three and a half years ago, and he [Yarde] have more experience for this fight, better physical.
“I think it will be an interesting fight, but in my opinion, Artur will smash him. I had trouble playing against Anthony Yarde. I had trouble in round seven or eight because I was drained of energy due to weight loss. I lost more than 15 pounds to this fight. He can’t stop me.
“I think so, Artur will finish him off in the middle of the battle. That’s your right. I’m also interested in watching this. In my opinion, Artur is naturally strong and mentally he has a very, very big foundation in two Olympics and world championships. He is more experienced and mentally older than Anthony Yarde.
“No later than six hours,” Kovalev said, predicting Beterbiev would stop Yarde in six innings. “I think so, five, six. Both are big, strong and smart. So it’s an interesting fight, but I think, Betterbiev will take him out before the middle of the fight.
“Everything depends on setting it up. If Artur rates him enough and is willing to fight, yes, I think it will be a win for Artur. Also, if Anthony is going to be ready for this fight but mentally, the most important thing is to be mentally ready. If he can be mentally ready, he can show his big heart, but let’s see.
Kovalev said: “I wish them both good luck and have an interesting match for the boxing fans.
