Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde round by round fight reports
Unified light-heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18KO) defends his WBC, IBF, WBO titles to challenger Anthony Yarde (23-2, 22KO) tonight, Saturday January 28, at the OVO Arena, Wembley, live on BT Sport.
BBN Editor Tim Rickson is reporting live from ringside from the very first bell at 5pm, with the action starting on BT Sport at 7pm:
Fight 1 – 5pm
6×3 Cruiserweight contest
Tommy Fletcher vs Darryl Sharp
Trained by Mark Tibbs, Fletcher was the eight fight of the night, not the first as the original schedule indicated. Fletcher utilised his southpaw jab and didn't take the bait when Sharp waved him to come closer.
Fletcher is 6'7" and Sharp 5'8" meaning there's almost a foot difference between them! This is the reason why Tommy is boxibg smart on the outside and why Sharp is inviting him to fight in close.
The 21-year-old from Norfolk is upping the pressure in round four, past the midway point, and Sharp is bleeding from a cut.
Sharp has only been stopped three times in 104 bouts and Fletcher looks like he knows he won't knock him out tonight, so there's a bit of showboating from 'The Norfolk Nightmare' in the fifth.
The sixth and final round didn't have a lot of action in and the whole fight was a bit tepid, but Fletcher got another win to take him to 4-0, scored 60-54.
Fight 2
6×3 International Featherweight contest
Masood Abdullah vs Lesther Lara
Shutout points win to Abdullah, scored 60-54.
Fight 3
6×3 International Super-welterweight contest
Khalid Ali vs Ivica Gogosevic
Gogosevic down twice in the first round, retired before the second.
Fight 4
6×3 International welterweight contest
Sean Noakes vs Santiago Garces
Fifth round stoppage to Sean Noakes.
Fight 5
6×3 welterweight contest
Joshua Frankham vs Joe Hardy
Joshua Frankham moved up to 7-0 with a shutout points win.
Fight 6
6×3 International Super-Featherweight contest
Charles Frankham vs Joshua Ocampo
Charles Frankham won 60-54 on points.
Fight 7
6×3 International Featherweight contest
Umar Khan vs Sandeep Singh Bhatti
Fight 8
4×3 International Heavyweight contest
Moses Itauma vs Marcel Bode
The heavyweight who signed with Warren only recently lived up to his hype with a stunningly quick KO. Pawing with his range finding right, the southpaw threw one big backhand left to hurt Bode then followed up with another backhand left to score a knockdown in 15 seconds and couldn't continue.
Moses won his pro debut in 23 seconds with just two punches!
Fight 9
10×3 Vacant WBC International Light-Heavyweight title
Karol Itauma vs Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna
Karol was sharp with his jab but had to eat a few backhand rights from Moderna during the opener, the Argentinian making use of his extra height and reach.
Maderna stumbled in the second from a punch so Itauma jumped on him but he recovered well.
Itauma manages to close the gap between them in round three making it more of his fight.
Maderna is incentivised when he lands a flurry in the fourth that makes Itauma take notice. Maderna sensed he hurt him and the Kent man has to endure a bit of pressure for a moment.
Tyson Fury walks to his seat to cheers from the crowd at the same time that Itauma gets knocked down and stopped in the fifth by a right hand to the head. The Chatham puncher can't beat the count as he's so badly hurt. It was the same one-two that landed for most of the fight that did the damage.
Chief Support – 9am
12×3 WBA Flyweight Championship
Artem Dalakian vs David Jimenez
The champion Dalakian pawing with his left jab and swiping with a left hook to keep Jiminez away, who is not engaging much for the first couple of rounds. Dalakian is on the back foot with his hands down, as expected. He's far busier with the jab and beginning to put shots together.
Jiminez does a better job of pressuring Dalakian and cutting off the ring in the fourth. Dalakian missed wildly with a right hook and out himself in danger momentarily until he regained his balance and shape. The champion finished the round landing some string jabs to push Jiminez back again.
More action in the fifth as Jiminez tries not to allow Dalakian any breathing space but the champ is slippery and the challenger is bleeding on his head, then takes a tumble in the last seconds but ruled a slip.
In the sixth, the WBA titlist starts to come forward in attack for the first time.
Much more of a shootout in the seventh and the exchanges were fairly even.
Jiminez started the ninth brightly, landing cleanly and putting the champ under duress.
Dalakian turns up the heat in the 10th, but gets caught with a short left hook early on. Dalakian lands a good left hook of his own.
Round 11 was a bit scrappy with lots of clinches. The champ lands an uppercut on the bell.
Dalakian lands another clean uppercut and Jiminez nods in acknowledgement. The challenger finished the fight dancing the Ali shuffle and smiling widely but he must know he's lost this one.
Dalakian retains his WBA flyweight title with scores of 115-113 twice and 116-112.
Main Event – 10pm
12×3 IBF, WBC & WBO Light-Heavyweight Championship
Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde
It was a great first round for Yarde, catching AB and making him miss with his right hand.
Yarde continuing to have success with his left. There were a few exciting exchanges in the second and Yarde's right uppercut was the best shot so far.
Yarde's gum shield is dislodged by a punch in the first part of the third. Beterbiev landed the biggest punch of the fight with a left hook right on the bell.
Beterbiev piles the pressure on in the fourth. The round swung back and forth, AB was strong at first then Yarde was able to land well to force him back, but the champ landed again and turned the tables back.
At the start of the fifth, a jab knocked Yarde's gumshield out again. This round then caught fire! Yarde had the champ hurt with a thunderous right hand and he was forced to retreat for the rest of the round until he recovered to trap Yarde in the corner until the bell rung.
Beterbiev's persistent jabs had opened a cut under Yarde's right eye and his face looked swollen.
After a less energetic sixth stanza, Yarde was more aggressive and busy in the seventh. He was bullying the bully who didn't like being on the receiving end, but then the formidable champion turned him in the corner and unleashed hell.
It's all over in the eighth after Yarde is floored by two clubbing right hands, then his corner threw in the towel. Yarde appeared to come forward to throw a right uppercut and was caught with a big right hook from Beterbiev to the left side of his face. Artur followed up with another right to the head to knock Yarde down to one knee. He bravely rose at about 8, glanced at his corner worryingly, was afforded a bit of extra time from referee Steve Gray before continuing but after another right to the head, trainer Tunde jumped up to call a halt to the punishment.
It was a gutsy effort from Yarde who matched a P4P great, who he also managed to hurt a few times.
The popular Hackney man will need time to recover from his wounds before assessing where to go next, but the future looks bright and the prospects high.
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