EXCLUSIVE — Anthony Yarde is being written off too readily ahead of his showdown with Artur Beterbiev, according to the Briton’s long-time domestic rival Joshua Buatsi.
Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) will face fearsome unified light-heavyweight champion Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.
On paper, it is a huge step up for Yarde, who was stopped in 11 rounds on his previous world-title tilt against Sergey Kovalev in 2019 and was forced to avenge a second career defeat when he stopped Lyndon Arthur in four rounds in December 2021.
As their records show, there is formidable punching power on both sides of the equation, with a thrilling shootout anticipated. However, the problems Yarde had against well-schooled fighters like Kovalev and Arthur – despite the Mancunian not operating at world level — mean there are doubts over how much of his concussive qualities the challenger will be able to bring to bear.
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Buatsi and Yarde have long been linked as potential opponents in an all-British megafight, but their alignment with rival promoters — Buatsi is signed to Matchroom, while Yarde fights under the Queensbury banner — has prevented that matchup from coming to fruition.
Far from talking his rival’s chances down, Buatsi gives Yarde a fighting chance against the 38-year-old Beterbiev, who was put down heavily by Callum Johnson in 2018.
“A lot of people are not giving Yarde a chance, but I’m actually giving him more of a chance than people are saying,” he told The Sporting News towards the end of last year.
“It’s a fight at the end of the day — two hands, two legs. I don’t know why everyone’s written him off. They both can punch. Of course, Beterbiev has done it at a higher level but we don’t know about Yarde yet.
“Yes, he lost to Kovalev but it’s going to be a different style against Beterbiev.”
Buatsi (16-0, 13 KOs), claimed a career-best win when he closed out a gruelling unanimous decision victory over former world-title challenger Craig Richards last May, but the rest of 2022 proved to be a frustrating experience for the Rio 2016 bronze medalist.
He was originally slated to face Dmitry Bivol in November before the WBA ruled Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s conqueror must defend his belt against mandatory challenger Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.
Buatsi conceded to mixed emotions when he travelled to Abu Dhabi to get a ringside seat for Bivol’s 12-round clinic against Ramirez but he remains in the title picture.
A rematch with Canelo down at super-middleweight to challenge for the four major belts has been spoken about ever since Bivol’s win over Ramirez. Were that to take place in September, Bivol would ideally want to stay active in the meantime.
A shot at the winner of Beterbiev vs Yarde would delight fans, however, the WBC, WBO and IBF champion’s commitment to observing Ramadan might make a May date difficult. In turn, that could mean an opportunity for Buatsi, now the WBA’s number-one ranked challenger at 175lbs, to face Bivol.
The 29-year-old had hoped to be out before the end of 2022 against veteran former world champion Jean Pascal before that fight broke down.
The sticking point was a stipulation from Buatsi’s team that Voluntary Anti-Doping (VADA) testing be included in the bout agreement with Pascal, who tested positive for four banned substances in 2021, causing his rematch with Badou Jack to be cancelled.
Pascal insisted he had been willing to undergo VADA testing for the Buatsi fight after it collapsed and the fighters' respective promoters, Eddie Hearn and Lou Di Bella, aired claim and counter-claim on social media.
It was an episode that came to look particularly unseemly for Hearn when, shortly afterwards, it emerged his fighter Conor Benn had returned adverse analytical findings and a slated megafight with Chris Eubank Jr was messily shelved during fight week.
The latter episode was particularly damaging for British boxing and the sport as a whole. Buatsi believes significant strides need to be taken, citing the paucity of testing for professionals when compared to his experience as a standout amateur in the Team GB setup.
“Just severe bans and more testing,” he replied when asked what was required for boxing to clean up its act. “They’ve got to be onto us. They’ve got to be onto everyone.
“If you’re flagged up for something, it’s in you. You didn’t get kidnapped and have it put in your mouth, you know what I mean? It’s in you.
“They have to just tighten up on a whole heap of stuff because the sport is dangerous enough as it is. Taking something to give you an edge, that’s not fair because it’s a hard, hard sport.
“I’ve got no sympathy and no room for anyone who’s taking drugs to perform better. You’re hurting someone else, trying to take someone’s head off and you’re cheating to do it.”
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Buatsi added: “It’s terrible. When I think about it, I was tested a lot more as an amateur. Now I’m a pro boxer, you should be testing me way more. Way more! They should be onto us.
“I don’t know, man. Not everyone, but some people just want a fair even playing field. Train hard for X amount of weeks, get in there and we see who the better man is.”
