| Light-Heavyweight rivals Lyndon Arthur and Anthony Yarde both return to action on Saturday July 10 at the Royal Albert Hall, ahead of a contracted rematch later this year. Arthur narrowly outpointed Yarde in December and they will get a close up of each other once again on Queensberry’s summer special live on BT Sport. In the main event, Arthur (18-0, 12 KOs) defends his WBO Inter-Continental title against Italian champion Davide Faraci (15-0, 7 KOs). The Mancunian became the number one ranked contender for Joe Smith Jr’s WBO World title after his split decision win against Yarde and can afford no mistakes against Swiss born Faraci. As well as his lofty WBO ranking, Arthur is ranked number four by the IBF and nine by the WBC. Artur Beterbiev holds the IBF and WBC belts. KO King Yarde (20-2, 19 KOs) aims to be back with a bang when he meets unbeaten German Emin Atra (17-0, 12 KOs) in a non-title ten rounder. Yarde had been due to meet Atra in April, but was sidelined because of a dental problem which forced the delay. Yarde showed he belonged at world level when he came close to toppling then WBO World champion Sergey Kovalev in August 2019 before losing in the 11th round. Ilford’s big hitter returned with wins against Diego Jair Ramirez and Dec Spelman before running into Arthur who he will be desperate to meet in a rematch. Despite the setback against his bitter British rival, Yarde has remained in the world ratings and is ranked high by the IBF, WBC and WBO. Promoter Frank Warren said: “Of course, the rematch is what everyone wants and it will happen at some stage. “It is fantastic to get them on the same bill. Both of them have a point to prove and BT Sport viewers can look forward to them both impressing. “Lyndon has leapt to number one with the WBO and will want to show the champion Joe Smith Jr how much of a threat he is. “Anthony will still feel aggrieved that the decision went Lyndon’s way and has vowed never to trust judges again so he will go for it against Atra, for sure.” Also on the bill, WBO ranked number one Super-Middleweight Zach Parker (20-0, 14 KO’s) returns with his opponent yet to be confirmed. Zach is looking to defend his position ahead of hopefully being made mandatory to the World title held by P4P King Canelo Alvarez. WBO ranked number four Super-Featherweight, Archie Sharp (19-0, 9 KOs) faces Nicaragua’s Marcio Soza (21-6-2, 12 KOs) with the vacant WBO Global championship on the line. They had been due to meet at the weekend, but a COVID-19 issue involving Soza meant a short postponement. Warren added: “Archie is another Queensberry fighter high in the world rankings and providing he keeps winning and remains patient his chance will come.” “Zach Parker was hugely impressive in his last fight, seeing off Vaughan Alexander – who hadn’t previously been finished – in just 2 rounds. “I believe he has the power to knockout anyone in his division and look forward to another exciting performance from him.” More big fights will be added to the bill in the coming days. Tickets will go on pre-sale with the Royal Albert Hall tomorrow and on general sale Thursday. Ticket prices as follows: Grand Tier & Loggia boxes – £100 2nd Tier boxes – £75 Front Stalls – £75 Rear Stalls – £50 Rausing Circle – £50 |
