How to watch Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde
London's calling for the light-heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev who will defend his belts against big-punching British challenger Anthony Yarde and BBN have provided all the details you need to tune in and watch the mega-fight taking place just 28 days into the New Year.
Everything you need to know about Beterbiev-Yarde below:
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023.
Venue: It takes place at the 12,000 capacity OVO Arena, Wembley.
Times: Doors open at 4:30pm, first bell at 5pm.
Rounds scheduled: 12 x three-minute championship rounds at light-heavyweight (175lbs).
Titles: Beterbiev defends his WBC, WBO and IBF world light-heavyweight titles.
Ringwalks: Ringwalks could be any time around 10pm (GMT), but boxing events are often subject to delays.
TV Coverage: TV coverage is from 7pm to 12am on BT Sport 1 (Channel 413) – £25 per month subscripton fees.
Live Stream: You can live stream the Queensberry Promotions event online via BT Sport website or BT Sport app – available to download for free on iOS and Android phones and tablets.
You can also keep up date with the action by following the BT Sport Boxing account on Twitter, as well as the official Frank Warren Twitter account
BBN will be providing LIVE updates on the night, right HERE
Tickets: Tickets are are on sale now from AXS.com
Background: Beterbiev won his first world title in November 2017 with a 12th-round stoppage of Enrico Koelling and defended his IBF belt on two further occasions – including against Britain's Callum Johnson – before entering into a unification match against WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019. Ukrainian puncher Gvozdyk, who was unbeaten at the time, was stopped in the 10th round.
Beterbiev defended his titles against Adam Deines and Marcus Browne ahead of a three-belt unification against WBO champion Joe Smith Jr. in June at Hulu Theater Madison Square Garden, where the American was stopped in two rounds. In the amateur ranks, Beterbiev won silver at the 2007 World Championships before striking gold at the 2009 event. He also won gold medals at the 2006 and 2010 European Championships.
The Wembley event represents a second world title attempt from Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) who previously travelled to Chelyabinsk, Russia, to take on the long-standing champion Sergey Kovalev, ultimately being stopped in the 11th round after coming close to forcing a finish himself in the eighth round. Yarde's first title came in fight No. 11 when he knocked out Chris Hobbs in four rounds for the Southern Area belt.
Yarde then fought seven consecutive fights with either the WBO European or Intercontinental belts at stake, or both, as Yarde knocked out each of those foes in seven rounds or less.
Post-Kovalev, Yarde continued with fights during the pandemic against Dec Spelman and a domestic dust-up against Lyndon Arthur. Yarde dropped a split decision against his Manchester rival, and after a swift comeback fight in Birmingham, Yarde sought redemption against Arthur. The vintage Yarde returned, and he knocked out Arthur in four rounds to once again earn the WBO No. 1 spot.
Undercard Highlights: The WBA World flyweight championship clash between the champion Artem Dalakian from Ukraine and Costa Rican challenger David Jiminez will take place as chief support.
Dalakian, 35, won his world title belt in February 2018 with a points victory over Brian Viloria and has subsequently made five successful defences. He is unbeaten in 21 professional fights, with 15 of his wins coming via stoppage.
Jiminez, 30, has previously won the WBA Latino title and the WBA Gold world flyweight championship and is unbeaten in 12, with nine KOs.
Quotes
Beterbiev: “I never back down from a challenge, and Anthony Yarde is a top contender who asked for this fight. I look forward to fighting in London for the first time since the Olympics. Yarde called me ‘slow’ after my fight with Joe Smith Jr., but slow and steady wins the race. And on January 28, I will win in London.”
Yarde: “January 28 will be my night. My destiny playing out in my home city, and this is what I have been longing for throughout my professional career, which started at Wembley. I won't make any big predictions for this fight against a strong unified champion in Artur Beterbiev, but what I will say is that I will leave nothing to chance, and I am at my best when I fight fire with fire.”
Predictions
Tim Rickson, BBN Editor: “This will be explosive! I'm quite convinced this can only end in a knockout. Yarde has 22KOs from his 23 wins – that's a 95% KO ratio – and Beterbiev has KO'd all 18 of his foes – 100% – so this is going to be a fireworks between two big punchers. On paper, Yarde actually appears more powerful, but the Canadian-adopted Russian will be the favourite despite the Londoner gaining the home advantage courtesy of promoter Frank Warren. Hackney's Yarde has been here before, as the challenger and as the underdog, but this time he's in his own backyard, which should provide him with an even better chance than when he fought Kovalev in 2019. He's reeled off five good wins since then. He had a blip against Lyndon Arthur where he was too one-dimensional and didn't do enough to dominate and win the rounds, but he came back strongly to get his revenge with a quick fourth-round KO exactly a year later to even the score. It's another leap up in levels, but I'm quite sure he'll be prepared for it with his previous world title experience. I feel like either side could land a knockdown at any time, but if AB goes down, he comes back with a vengeance. Both times in his career when he went down, it was just minutes before he destroyed them back. If Yarde floors him, can he finish him? I'm not convinced. I think there'll be legs to the fight and it should go past six rounds, but I think Beterbiev will emerge the winner in the championship rounds with his depth of amateur experience behind him. How can you surprise or trouble a guy that's won over 300 fights? He's seen it all! If you stick him in the trenches, he'll come marching over the top again!”
More predictionsTale of the Tape
Beterbiev
Age: 38
Bouts: 18
Rounds: 83
Wins: 18
Losses: 0
Draws: 0
KO Wins: 18
KOs: 100%
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5’ 11”
BoxRec: #2
Yarde
Age: 31
Bouts: 25
Rounds: 90
Wins: 23
Losses: 3
Draws: 0
KO Wins: 22
KOs: 88%
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6’ 0”
BoxRec: #9
Betting Odds (Betway)
1/10 Beterbiev
5/1 Yarde
22/1 Draw
Weights
Artur Beterbiev 12 stone 6 pounds 8 ounces
Anthony Yarde 12 stone 6 pounds 4 ounces
Running Order
Undercard:
Tommy Fletcher vs Darryl Sharp
4×3 Cruiserweight contest
Masood Abdullah vs Lesther Lara
6×3 Featherweight contest
Khalid Ali vs Ivica Gogosevic
6×3 Super-welterweight contest
Sean Noakes vs Santiago Garces
4×3 Welterweight contest
Joshua Frankham vs Joe Hardy
6×3 Super-featherweight contest
Charles Frankham vs Joshua Ocampo
6×3 Welterweight contest
Umar Khan vs Sandeep Singh Bhatti
6×3 Featherweight
Moses Itauma vs Marcel Bode
4×3 Heavyweight contest
Karol Itauma vs Esquival Osvaldo Maderna
10×3 WBC International light-heavyweight title
Chief Support:
Artem Dalakian vs David Jiminez
12×3 WBA World Flyweight title
Main Event:
Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde
12×3 WBC, IBF, WBO World light-heavyweight titles