By: Sean Cross
For years now, he has been considered one of the most aggressive and talented fighters in all of boxing. And this weekend in Great Britain, 38-year-old Artur Beterbiev will get the chance to show the world just how good he is when he takes on legendary vet Anthony Yarde in a 12-rounder at Wembley Arena. The fight will be for Beterbiev’s IBF, WBC and WBO world light heavyweight titles and will be broadcast live here in the States on ESPN+. For the record, this one has the potential to be a barn burner.
why? Because Beterbiev has won every one of his 18 away matches. Furthermore, he went 23-2 yards on all but 1 of his 23 wins. Of course, anything can happen in the ring, but this is doubtful. and then? Well, if Yarde gets rid of the upset, boxing will be the absolute toast. If Beterbiev, on the other hand, does his thing – as is widely expected – all eyes will be on the undisputed battle between himself and fellow Russian Dmitry Bivol. Beterviv is not looking too far ahead. According to co-trainer John Scull, that’s where the fighter’s focus needs to be.
“He trains very hard and focuses on the task at hand,” says Scully. “Not only do we train, but we also train to fight each opponent differently.” According to Scully, training is actual practice. “He’s always working out ways to deal with the opposition,” Beterbiev said. Suffice it to say, the well-known trainer and former fighter and broadcaster, will be going into Saturday’s fight. “Everything is in place to make Saturday a success for us,” he says.
Beterbiev’s last fight was a two-round upset of the legendary Joe Smith last June. In a world title streak that has now spanned over five years, the man has defeated the likes of Marcus Browne and Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Yarde Aside from a split decision loss to Lyndon Arthur in 2020, his only loss came at the hands of the brutal Sergey Kovalev. The Englishman’s last fight of 2020 was a fourth-round loss to Arthur, and this weekend’s fight still has the potential to be a barnburner…as long as it continues.
