The Rematch – Arthur vs Yarde 2 previewed by a man who knows best
Managed by Carl Greaves and trained by Al Oster, former English light-heavyweight champion Dec Spelman (16-5, 8KOs) breaks down the highly-anticipated rematch between two opponents he has shared the ring with himself – Lyndon Arthur (19-0, 13KOs) and Anthony Yarde (21-2, 20KOs).
The 29-year-old is currently looking to rebuild at cruiserweight after three defeats in a row to former British light-heavy champion Shakan Pitters in 2019, followed by a points loss to Lyndon Arthur in July 2020, then a TKO loss in the sixth round of his fight with Anthony Yarde just six weeks later, both bouts taking place behind closed doors.
Before breaking down this weekend’s clash, he updated fight fans with his recent activity, “So, the plan is to be out around the end of February and I’m going up to cruiserweight to see what it’s like.
“I spar with cruisers all the time, so it’ll be interesting to see how I do up there. If sparring is anything to go by I’m looking forward to it, because I believe it’s wide open at the moment all the way up from British, Commonwealth and European level.
“I’m not able to train with Carl Greaves anymore just because of our schedules clashing, but he’s still my manager because I want him to be part of my success going forward. I’m training with Al Oster in Leeds now.
“I’ll be looking to get a couple of wins and then take a look at what’s about.”
Dec Spelman spoke exclusively to BBN to analyse Lyndon Arthur vs Anthony Yarde 2 below:
Speed
“For me, there’s no comparison – Arthur. The speed in which he throws that jab from the waist!
“Yarde has very good timing, but I found him very limited. I’ve said before in interviews that I’d like that rematch to happen.
“Arthur, I found to be sharp with very snappy punches.”
Skill
“Arthur is a very drilled fighter, I really rate Pat Barrett as a coach, always been a fan of Pat, and whatever he’s doing with Lyndon is working. It all comes back to the jab, you can’t get out the way of it.
“He was a good amateur, then came up the right way on the small hall circuit and has got bags of experience. He has the right people around him, a good team, 100 per cent, they’re a strong team.
“I went to see Yarde in his hotel after the fight and he is a real nice guy, very different to what you get in front of the cameras.”
Power
“Yarde is the stronger puncher of the two. When you are making that 12st 7lbs limit, you lose a bit of power, but nothing Arthur hit me with really fazed me at all, but that jab of his breaks you down; it’s the accumulation of punches and you don’t need that one-punch power when you’ve got that.
“With Yarde, it’s more the timing of his shots, he punches hard because he’s clever with his shot placement. I’ve been in with bigger punchers, but every shot he throws is very stiff.”
Defence
“Arthur, 100 per cent has the best defence, once again.
“Yarde comes in in threes and fours and I was clipping him with the jab every time. He parries with the back hand then drops his right hand, he’d typically be doing that all the time, we found that out when watching him before the fight, it’s a bit of a habit. He knocks the jab off the shoulder, parries with his right hand; he very rarely pulls his feet out of range.
“We had a game plan, we knew he would be strong, that he would keep creeping forward, so the plan was to double-triple up on the jab, which was working. When there’s such a big unit in front of you, you will hit something.”
Offence
“I’d say Yarde has the better offence, and he is a very good finisher, got to give him that. To his credit he always goes for that knockout, and I like to see that in a fighter. You know you’re in for a good fight with Yarde.”
Prediction
“I won money on that first fight! For me, it didn’t seem like Yarde was doing much at all. He was constantly resetting all the time. In that last round, he realised he had plenty left in the tank so he unloaded but it was too late.
“I was pushing him all time during our fight, he’s got to do that; he’s got to start fast early because he’s not going to outbox Arthur.
“I think the second fight is going to be a lot different from the first. Yarde will need to put pressure on Lyndon right from the start, he can’t afford to sit back. If Arthur is fully fit with no injuries, he could outbox him again.
“Yarde is a muscle-man and that uses up a lot of oxygen. Yarde may come out fast to try to take him out early, so if Arthur could stay away from him and survive the early rounds then he could possibly take him out later on.
“If Arthur is injury-free, sustains the early onslaught, I think he beats Yarde late on, but I'm sitting on the fence for this one.”
WBO #1
Spelman concluded with his thoughts on what his chosen winner could go on to achieve. Currently, Arthur is sitting high up in the No.1 position with the WBO, but it’s lower-ranked countryman and stablemate Callum Johnson who next challenges the champion, Joe Smith Jr., in January next year.
A win over Yarde, as Dec predicts, could see him face the winner of Smith Jr.-Johnson next, but he is also ranked #11 with the WBA and third in the IBF ratings, and ‘Kid Nytro’ believes he’ll triumph up at world level too.
“I think Arthur could go on to beat the likes of Dmitry Bivol, especially after seeing the success that Craig Richards had against him. I think Richards exposed Bivol in their fight.
“If Callum Johnson beats Joe Smith Jr. in their WBO World title fight, then Johnson-Arthur is an interesting fight.”
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