IBF, WBC & WBO Light-Heavyweight Championship 12 x 3 Minute Rounds @175lbs Artur Beterbiev 12 stone 6 pounds 8 ounces Anthony Yarde 12 stone 6 pounds  4 ounces   WBA Flyweight Championship 12 x 3 Minute Rounds @112lbs Artem Dalakian 7 stone 13 pounds 10 oz David Jimenez 7 stone 13 pounds 2 oz   Vacant WBC International Light-Heavyweight contest 10 x 3 Minute Rounds @ 175lbs Karol Itauma 12 stone 6 pounds 2oz Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna 12 stone 6 pounds 11 oz   4 x 3-minute rounds International Heavyweight contest Moses Itauma 17 stone 12 pounds Marcel Bode 15 stone 10 pounds   6 x 3-minute rounds International Featherweight contest Umar Khan 9 stone 1 pound Sandeep Singh Bhatti 8 stone 13 pounds 4 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds International Super-Featherweight contest Charles Frankham 9 stone 6 pounds 6 ounces  Joshua Ocampo 9 stone 2 pounds 2 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds welterweight contest Joshua Frankham 11 stone 8 ounces Joe Hardy 11 stone 1 pound 5 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds International welterweight contest Sean Noakes 10 stone 6 pounds 4 ounces Santiago Garces 10 stone 4 pounds 2 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds International Super-welterweight contest Khalid Ali 10 stone 13 pounds Ivica Gogosevic 10 stone 10 pounds 10 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds International Featherweight contest Masood Abdullah 9 stone 6 pounds Lesther Lara 9 stone 6 pounds 10 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds Cruiserweight contest Tommy Fletcher 14 stone 3 pounds 6 ounces Darryl Sharp 13 stone 6 pounds 8 ounces

Tagged : Anthony Yarde / Artur Beterbiev

IBF, WBC & WBO Light-Heavyweight Championship 12 x 3 Minute Rounds @175lbs Artur Beterbiev 12 stone 6 pounds 8 ounces Anthony Yarde 12 stone 6 pounds  4 ounces   WBA Flyweight Championship 12 x 3 Minute Rounds @112lbs Artem Dalakian 7 stone 13 pounds 10 oz David Jimenez 7 stone 13 pounds 2 oz   Vacant WBC International Light-Heavyweight contest 10 x 3 Minute Rounds @ 175lbs Karol Itauma 12 stone 6 pounds 2oz Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna 12 stone 6 pounds 11 oz   4 x 3-minute rounds International Heavyweight contest Moses Itauma 17 stone 12 pounds Marcel Bode 15 stone 10 pounds   6 x 3-minute rounds International Featherweight contest Umar Khan 9 stone 1 pound Sandeep Singh Bhatti 8 stone 13 pounds 4 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds International Super-Featherweight contest Charles Frankham 9 stone 6 pounds 6 ounces  Joshua Ocampo 9 stone 2 pounds 2 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds welterweight contest Joshua Frankham 11 stone 8 ounces Joe Hardy 11 stone 1 pound 5 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds International welterweight contest Sean Noakes 10 stone 6 pounds 4 ounces Santiago Garces 10 stone 4 pounds 2 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds International Super-welterweight contest Khalid Ali 10 stone 13 pounds Ivica Gogosevic 10 stone 10 pounds 10 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds International Featherweight contest Masood Abdullah 9 stone 6 pounds Lesther Lara 9 stone 6 pounds 10 ounces   6 x 3-minute rounds Cruiserweight contest Tommy Fletcher 14 stone 3 pounds 6 ounces Darryl Sharp 13 stone 6 pounds 8 ounces

Tagged : Anthony Yarde / Artur Beterbiev

UNIFIED WORLD LIGHT heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and his challenger Anthony Yarde met the media for the final time today ahead of their highly-anticipated showdown at the OVO Arena, Wembley on Saturday. Yarde and Beterbiev were joined by their Hall of Fame promoters – Frank Warren and Bob Arum – and a selection of key quotes from the event are below. Frank Warren “38 years ago this month we (Bob Arum) did Don Curry v Colin Jones in Birmingham and that was the first world title fight we did together. Look at this, 38 years later, we are delivering between us a fight between two big punching fighters who can box as well and this is going to be something really special. We welcome Artur and his team coming over to defend his titles and I just feel we are in for something extremely special on the night. As a boxing fan, I can’t wait to see it. It is going to be a real bust-up. “Anthony was brought to my attention by Tunde, a friend of long years, as an amateur and he was setting the scene alight. I liked what I saw and, when I met him, I thought he was an extremely nice young man. He’s worked very hard to get where he has considering the experience he had. He doesn’t shy away from anything, any fights we’ve wanted to make, he doesn’t care who it is. He didn’t shy away when we made the first world title fight for him against Kovalev in Russia and it was a fight he should have truly won. It tells you a lot about him that he was prepared to go there to the other guy’s backyard. He went out there and it was brilliant how he performed, he was so close to winning that title. “I think he learned a lot from that, I think the whole team learned a lot from that fight and I genuinely believe he has the tools to create what the bookmakers will say will be an upset. He’s got the composure, he can box, he’s got fast movement and, more importantly, he can punch. I think he can match Artur in the punching department. Artur has the best record of any champion in the world at the moment. “So I think it will be an outstanding fight and I really thank Bob, along with Top Rank and team, for helping to make this happen and get this fight in this country.” Bob Arum “I am feeling pretty good. There are fighters today who are known for their power. The two heavyweights particularly, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, the lighter weight guys like Inoue and Terence Crawford, but I think pound-for-pound the biggest puncher in boxing today is the guy on my right. He has knocked out every opponent who has been put in front of him, not because he is not a good boxer, because he is, but he also has that magic that you can’t really train a fighter for. It is instinctive, the ability to punch and knock out an opponent. “So I am very happy to be here. I know Anthony Yarde, I’ve followed him and he is a terrific fighter, also with a big punch. This should be a very, very exciting kind of fight. How the fight plays out a lot depends on Anthony, if he is going to go out and fight Artur like Joe Smith did, the fight will end early. If he boxes a bit with Artur the fight will end in the middle to late rounds. “With all due respect to Yarde, Artur I believe will emerge the winner. It is no problem coming here, I have been around this game a long time and the big test for me was when Artur fought Smith because we did that fight in New York where Smith has a tremendous following. They cheered and they yelled and they screamed and what did that do? It incentivised Smith to take the fight to Artur. That was a big mistake because he knocked out Smith in two rounds. “Hopefully Yarde will be excited by his fans, will go after Beterbiev and the fight will be over in a few rounds rather than more.” Anthony Yarde “I am excited. It is a good feeling, it is part of my journey and I am happy to be here. Everyone knows what kind of character I am, I am very calm and I jump at opportunities. Sometimes you go through things on your journey to strengthen you and you go through certain things on your journey to prepare you as well. That is what I keep saying, I am so excited. “For my first world title fight I was very green, I was 18 fights in and a big novice in the sport. I just had something and it was heart. I went out to Russia, it was a very different experience and a lot of things happened leading up to the fight, but I’ve got the mentality of once you get in the ring, you will see. “It doesn’t matter now, my preparation is different now and I have learned since then as well. I am a different type of fighter with different life experiences. I am ready for Saturday. “I feel like I am always smiling. I am happy to be alive, happy to be at this stage of my life as well. Being an underdog, overdog or middle dog don’t matter to me. I am a dog. When I get in that ring and start throwing my hands about, everyone knows what I can be like. If being an underdog does anything to me it is to give me that little push, that little urge. “He has done a lot in the sport and that is why he should be respected. When we get in the ring there is no respect and you try and take the respect away from your opponent.” Artur Beterbiev “I feel good. I hope on January 28 I will change a little bit (to turn into a monster). I said he looks like a bodybuilder because of his muscles. I don’t have this muscle and I didn’t say it to mean anything bad. I said it because he looks strong! “In our camp we always try to be ready for different scenarios. If it is a tough fight we are going to be ready,  we will be ready for whatever. I just try to do my best.”

Tagged : Anthony Yarde / Artur Beterbiev

WHILE ANTHONY YARDE is promising to bring fire and brimstone to his unified world title challenge against Artur Beterbiev on January 28, live on BT Sport, he insists he has no intention of neglecting the basics when it comes to doing so. The big-hitting Londoner has previously stated that planned long-distance travel in fights is not really his thing and that the unbeaten Beterbiev can expect an onslaught at the OVO Arena, Wembley. However, the 31-year-old light heavyweight contender has never been simply a crash, bang, wallop merchant. There is much more to his game than that. He works off a hurtful jab and picks his spots before detonating any bombs. So don’t just expect him to just charge across the canvas on his night of destiny in North West London. “How often do you see someone just go in there swinging?” asked the man with 22 KOs to his name from 23 wins as pro. “All the biggest knockout punchers, like GGG, he didn’t go in just hitting and trying to knock people out, he had a tactical approach. “He’s got an excellent jab and used to wear down his opponents. “Mike Tyson. People call him a brawler. Disrespectfully, for years. Only now people are starting to see the more technical side of his boxing and are saying this guy was a masterful counter-puncher. “Even early in your career when you are fighting people you are ‘meant to beat’, you find prospects struggling with these guys because you don’t just go in and knock someone out. It doesn’t work like that. It is boxing, it is an art. “You’ve got to pick someone apart and then land the shots. I said this early on, my thing is I am a powerful, accurate puncher. I find the shot and, when I find it and land it, people are going to feel it.” Yarde has done his best to resist sweeping change to his style as he climbed the levels in the pro ranks. Fighters, quite naturally, adapt their game plans as the danger increases, but the key, according to the Ilford man, is not changing in response to credentials being doubted from the outside. “It is a mixture because, in my mind, I said I don’t want to run into the unknown. But, at the same time, I don’t want to have somebody else’s career. That is what happens in boxing and people are telling you, you should be doing this, you should be doing that. “If I listened to everyone that was saying things I would not be where I am today. When I started boxing people said all sorts of things until I would do it. “It is a compromise, you can’t please everybody, in boxing or any sport, really. “When Mike Tyson was knocking out everybody, I remember watching one of his fights with the commentary on and they said that people were starting to say he was fighting nobodies. People are always going to have something to say. “Then when he went 10 rounds they said he was not the real deal, after all. So you can’t win. If you go 10, win every round and don’t get hit, they say the guy you fought was nothing, but he didn’t knock him out like we wanted to see. When you do get the stoppage, some people say you knocked him out too early, ‘what is he learning from that?’. “He is learning how to knock someone out! That is what he’s doing. “That is my thing as well, the more I knock people out, the more I have learned how to do it in different ways. That is the way I see it.” Tickets for Beterbiev vs Yarde are priced from £50 and are available from AXS.comand Ticketmaster.co.uk. Artur Beterbiev v Anthony Yarde for the WBC, WBO and IBF world light heavyweight titles takes place at the OVO Arena, Wembley on January 28, live on BT Sport. The bumper card also features the WBA world flyweight title fight between unbeaten fighters Artem Dalakian v David Jiminez. Willy Hutchinson and Karol Itauma fight for the WBO Intercontinental and WBC International light heavyweight titles respectively, with the show also featuring top prospects Charles Frankham, Umar Khan, Sean Noakes, Joshua Frankham, Khalid Ali and Tommy Fletcher. The show also features the highly-anticipated professional debut of World Youth Champion Moses Itama.

Tagged : Anthony Yarde / Artur Beterbiev

ARTUR BETERBIEV OFFERED up a nonchalant response when questioned over his former amateur rival providing some words of advice to his forthcoming opponent Anthony Yarde ahead of the world light heavyweight title clash at the OVO Arena, Wembley on January 28.

British challenger Yarde was perched next to the unified heavyweight champion Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December while Tyson Fury was quashing the threat of his old rival Derek Chisora.

He claimed the Ukrainian gave him some tips on how to go about taking on the formidable Canadian-based Russian.

Beterbiev was edged out by Usyk at both the 2011 World Championship and the 2012 London Olympics.

“I don’t know,” said the 37-year-old Beterbiev with a chuckle when asked if a few pearls of wisdom from Usyk would help Yarde in his quest to part him from the WBC, WBO and IBF world title belts.

“If it helps him, then good for him. What can Usyk give him?

“It was suggested that Usyk could impart the benefit of experience from fighting him.

“And?” said a still smiling Beterbiev, who was a little bit more forthcoming when it came to explaining why, when he stepped up to light heavyweight, Canelo Alvarez opted to challenge Dmitrii Bivol for one world title belt, rather than himself for two, at the time.

“Why do you think? You need to ask Canelo, not me. How can I answer this one? If it was a fight that came to me I would take it, but I am not dreaming about this fight.”

Artur Beterbiev v Anthony Yarde for the WBC, WBO and IBF world light heavyweight titles takes place at the OVO Arena, Wembley on January 28, live on BT Sport.

The bumper card also features the WBA world flyweight title fight between unbeaten fighters Artem Dalakian v David Jiminez.

Willy Hutchinson and Karol Itauma fight for the WBO Intercontinental and WBC International light heavyweight titles respectively, with the show also featuring top prospects Charles Frankham, Umar Khan, Sean Noakes, Joshua Frankham, Khalid Ali and Tommy Fletcher.

The show also features the highly-anticipated professional debut of World Youth Champion Moses Itama.Tickets for Beterbiev vs Yarde are priced from £50 and are available from AXS.comand Ticketmaster.co.uk.

Tagged : Anthony Yarde / Artur Beterbiev

ANTHONY YARDE DISCOVERED in just his second amateur fight that playing for points and attempting to impress the judges is not for him.

Yarde, of course, is set for a second tilt at world title glory when he takes on the unbeaten unified champion Artur Beterbiev at the OVO Arena, Wembley on January 28, live on BT Sport, having overcome professional setbacks against Sergey Kovalev and Lyndon Arthur.

The self-styled ‘Beast from the East’ of the capital famously enjoyed limited amateur experience of just 12 fights before blasting onto the pro scene back in 2015. It meant he was not moulded into a textbook light heavyweight or took onboard too many amateur traits that required drilling out of him.

In fact, he flatly refused requests from his amateur coach Tony Cesay to adopt a more patient approach to his work, which resulted in him having only the dozen unpaid fights.

“It was the timeframe as well, I started boxing late,” added Yarde, now 31. “I had my first amateur fight when I was 19, I got into boxing at 18 and I didn’t have no junior bouts, no schoolboys, just straight into adult boxing.

“I think Tunde (trainer/manager, Ajayi) would agree with this. When I met Tunde I had a style-base already, based on people I had watched, people I wanted to mimic or re-mix. I feel like Tunde helped me evolve my boxing skill as I was very powerful.

“As an amateur I trained with Tony Cesay up until around seven fights in and, even as a professional, he used to come and join some of our sessions as well. From when I started boxing Tony used to say to me ‘you are sitting on your shots too much, you’re being flat-footed, you need to be in and out. Yes, you are powerful, but you need to be in and out, in and out’.

“I replied to him saying ‘Tone, I want to be a great professional boxer, not a good amateur. I know what you are saying, but I’ve got a plan in my head. I’m going to knock out everybody’.

“He said I couldn’t do that because I wouldn’t get any fights. In my first fight I knocked the guy out – we are friends now – then I couldn’t get a fight for three months. Tony said, ‘You see, because of your physique, the way you look, and you knocked out somebody, no-one wants to fight you’.

“So, in the second fight I boxed the guy. I still won, it was clear I won, Ohara Davies was there shouting the place down and, when they announced the other guy as the winner, he had a bloody nose, a bruised eye… They gave him the decision on their show, an army show, and afterwards the guy came into my changing room and tried to give me his medal, saying ‘you won that’.

“I said to keep it because now I was upset. If I got no fights, I got no fights, and after that I knocked out everyone I fought in the amateurs. So, I always wanted to have that great professional boxing style.”

And therein lies the lesson. Playing the longer game is not for him.Yarde admits that he listened to the doubters who questioned whether he could go the full 12 rounds ahead of his maiden world title challenge against the long-standing Russian champion.

Against his better judgement, he bided his time and did the same thing when he first came up against Lyndon Arthur.

The spectacular outcome of the rematch with Arthur demonstrated which method of boxing works for Yarde and it isn’t a cagey, calculated approach.

“Fact. That is what I’m trying to say. I don’t think it is to do with anyone but myself. I had a mindset when I started boxing and, the second I tried to change it or listen to people asking if I could go 12 rounds, I went away from what I knew.

“I know why the Kovalev fight didn’t go my way, I know why the fight didn’t go my way in the amateurs, I know why they gave the decision to Lyndon Arthur in the first fight.

“When all these things happened, it was when I went against my natural instinct and what I said I was going to do from the beginning.

“After that first fight with Lyndon Arthur I said ‘no more games, I know exactly what I’m going to do. And I’m going to do it’.”It is like back to the future.”

Artur Beterbiev v Anthony Yarde for the WBC, WBO and IBF world light heavyweight titles takes place at the OVO Arena, Wembley on January 28, live on BT Sport.

The bumper card also features the WBA world flyweight title fight between unbeaten fighters Artem Dalakian v David Jiminez.Willy Hutchinson and Karol Itauma fight for the WBO Intercontinental and WBC International light heavyweight titles respectively, with the show also featuring top prospects Charles Frankham, Umar Khan, Sean Noakes, Joshua Frankham, Khalid Ali and Tommy Fletcher.

Tickets for Beterbiev vs Yarde are priced from £50 and are available from AXS.comand Ticketmaster.co.uk.

Tagged : Anthony Yarde / Artur Beterbiev