The Panel – Anthony Yarde vs Lyndon Arthur reactions
Anthony Yarde (20-2, 19KOs) slipped to a second defeat at the hands of underdog Lyndon Arthur (18-0, 12KOs) last night, live on BT Sport.
Arthur clinched the decision on the scorecards to retain his Commonwealth light-heavyweight title, as well as scoop up the WBO Inter-Continental strap.
Yarde was not happy with the judges' scoring and made it completely clear after the fight so BBN asked their panel of boxing professionals for their views on Yarde's latest loss:
Hosea Burton
Former British light-heavyweight champion
"I had Lyndon winning by three or four rounds. Yarde could not get out of the way of the jab. The right man won the fight.
I would love to fight Lyndon next."
Frank Buglioni
Former British light-heavyweight champion
"I thought Arthur had it by one round. I wouldn’t have argued with a draw, however.
Yarde clearly had the hurting of Arthur, but didn’t close the gap to land his hurtful shots. He was picked off by jabs throughout the contest. He should have bobbed and weaved into close range and worked head and body combinations, throwing his shots in flurryies and using his strength to work on the inside and manhandle Arthur.
I think Yarde has all the natural attributes to be a champion but his mindset and strength of character will be tested now. He will need to look at his current training set up and make changes. Tunde hasn’t shown us enough to say he is a competent trainer. Yarde lacks basic fundamentals that Tunde has neglected and left him vulnerable to boxers that have a solid pedigree; namely footwork, a good jab and ability to control the range.
We will now see if Yarde has the confidence to come out of his comfort zone and work with a trainer that will constructively criticise and improve his abilities as a boxer.
Arthur can challenge the higher level domestic fighters such as Craig Richards, Joshua Buatsi and Callum Johnson before aiming for European and world level challenges."
Liam Conroy
Former English light-heavyweight champion
"It was a very good performance from Lyndon, I thought he won a bit clearer than the judges had it. Interesting that he only really used that jab.
Would like to see Lyndon push on to world level,if he can. Yarde is still a very good fighter, but I think he will see a lot to work on when he watches it back. I’d like to see him look to box some of the lads in the British top 10 before returning to that higher level. He will reassess and come back well, I’m sure."
Tim Rickson
BBN Editor
"Personally, I thought that Yarde did just enough to win, so I was initially surprised at the result. I know that Arthur caught him with his jab often, but Yarde being the aggressor on the front foot, always hunting him down, I would've expected the rounds to have racked up in his favour. That said, it was close, so there can be no cries of robbery. If I watch it back (which I definitely won't! Once was enough!) then I'm sure I'd see Arthur winning.
I found the fight very similar to Dubois-Joyce. Firstly, the more experienced amateur was written off, but used his vaster experience and skill to win, and the favourite didn't adapt or try to find new ways to solve the puzzle in front of him and lost.
The last round was worth watching, but the rest of the fight was slow, dull and boring; a real anti-climax. I'm not sure why Yarde didn't do what he did in the last round in the first round. I guess he was pacing himself for the 12-round distance, which was clearly a mistake, looking back.
I'm sure there's lots of people writing Yarde off already, but boxing fans are very fickle. As soon as a fighter loses, they're finished, according to some. He's 29, got great athleticism, has boxed at the hiighest level and will come again. Although he was completely outclassed by Kovalev, he still came so close to winning that world title. That world title fight was too soon for him, but last night's fight was a good match-up, I thought. He and Arthur were very hard to split, so he should test himself against more fighters like that.
I'm sure that Yarde will be back better than ever. I know it's easy to say as a spectator, but I think he should have gone for it a lot sooner. Usually, Yarde goes in and eats his opponent's heart, but he was too tentative for me. He should have been letting that powerful right hand go a lot sooner and more often.
Congratulations to Arthur, he boxed well and stuck to his disciplined game plan. He didn't even look like he got out of first gear when sat in the corner. He was calm and had his mouth closed, barely taking in a breath! He's a great champion and I'm really looking forward to his next move. I expect that to be the rematch, which I would watch again because I think there'd be more action in a second fight."
Tom Mark
https://allboxingodds.com
"I thought the result was a fair one, I had Arthur two rounds ahead.
For me, Yarde let too many rounds drift where he did little other than coming forward. The jab exchanges were won by Arthur and he was just nicking rounds. Yarde seems to struggle a little with pacing himself over the 12 rounds, could this be down to a supposed lack of sparring? I think in the rematch we would see Yarde put his foot on the gas a little earlier like he did in the 12th and it would be a completely different story.
Yarde looked like he could physically bully Arthur when he closed the distance but we just didn't see enough of it."
Ben Davies
Global Boxing News Editor
"There was no doubt Lyndon Arthur won the fight for me.
He effectively boxed with one hand for the duration of the fight, and yet Yarde seemed to only try and walk him down in the final round, after having ample opportunity to try and walk through the leading left and get up close to Arthur.
I also think for Yarde he could maybe get some new corner advice, as they only managed to detect Arthur not throwing the right hand in the eighth round, and were informing him he did not need a stoppage as he was ahead hence his confidence.
A great win for Arthur and although I would like him to step up to world level in the future, I imagine the rematch will happen."
Ryan Clark
Co-Founder of buymyfight.com
"I think it was a fair score and Arthur won.
You could argue it was slightly embarrassing that Arthur won essentially with one hand (jab) but in reality Yarde’s counter against the right was too dangerous to risk.
The whole “Lions in the camp” slogan is now irritating, to the point I think all it does is highlight the fact there is no apparent tactical skill set or adjustments in the locker from his cornerman. It almost seems as though Yarde is trapped into a relationship bonded through some brotherhood fictitious glue, but if he can see sense and break free from that I think it’s the only way he can truly see what his potential actually is.
He needs to get out of this lions camp and into a boxing gym where a professional trainer resides. Tony Sims just one of many examples."
Chris Glover
Unbeaten pro boxer
"I thought Arthur did well. Anthony seems like a nice lad, but he needs to get rid of that Tunde if he’s going to go back to world level.
Lyndon Arthur can now move on to pushing for a world title fight."
Dee the Hat
Boxing trainer
"Lyndon was brilliant! I thought he won nearly every round. Fair play to Pat Barrett and Lyndons team. I hope Lyndon get some big fights now."
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