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anthony yarde Was always confident that another world title opportunity would come his way and predicted a “barn shoot-out” with the WBC light-heavyweight champion David Benavidez On Saturday.
British Boxer involved in a thriller with Yarde arthur beterbiev at Wembley Arena in early 2023 and hurt the pound-for-pound great, but failed in his improbable attempt to unify the 175lbs division when his corner stopped the fight in the eighth round.
The 34-year-old was unable to use his courageous performance against Beterbiev as a springboard, but followed up low-key wins over Jorge Silva, Marko Nikolic and Ralph Wilkens with a successful trio against old rival Lyndon Arthur, the Saudi kingpin. turkish alalsikh Personally requested Yarde.
Asked if he had any fears about winning a world title next, Yarde (27-3, 24KOs) told the PA news agency: “Absolutely not. I know what I bring to the table and my ranking is very high. I always have been.
“After the Beterbiev fight, there was no change in my ranking and again on paper people say it is a defeat, but then I beat another guy who is higher and I am back in the ranking.
“Turk Alalshikh said he wants me personally for this fight. I talked to him and he said he wants me.
“He said, ‘Every fight, you fight and it’s a headliner,’ so, that was the conversation about why he wanted me to fight Benavidez.”
Ilford-born Yarde received plenty of credit for his performance against Beterbiev (30-0, 24KOs), which came after a tough build-up.
The original October date was pushed back to January and a tune-up fight between Yarde took place in November.
However, preparations were better for his first world title shot against Sergei Kovalev which was accepted on six weeks’ notice and took place in Chelyabinsk.
This occasion is different as Yarde has had almost four months to prepare and the recruitment of strength and conditioning coach Ruben Tabares has added to the general feeling that the ‘Beast from the East’ is “different” ahead of his third attempt to become world champion.
“No, I was upset, man. I don’t care who the guy is, I don’t like losing fights,” Yarde reflected on the loss to Beterbiev.
“My mentality is I don’t care who you are, I’m going to beat you. Same thing for Benavidez but I’m a different person now.
“Ruben Tabares has come along and he’s been helping with the timing of some things, so, it’s (coming together).
“Again, that’s what makes me feel more prepared. It’s the little things and learning steps.”
Yarde’s front-foot approach and ability to step forward at the biggest moments adds intrigue ahead of Saturday night despite his underdog status against Benavidez, who just moved up to the light-heavyweight division last year.
“He’s spiteful, I’m spiteful, I like to win my fights by knock-out and so does he. We’ve both had the same amount of professional fights. I feel like if I didn’t know myself and him, and I looked at these two guys, I’d say they’re going to be swingers,” Yarde said, smiling.
“I know and see when a good fight is going to happen and it’s the same thing. I know what Styles does, I know the way we both fight, it’s because of the barn shoot-out!”