Beterbiev vs Yarde – The Art of Warfare!
By James Blears
Two proven power punchers are going to ignite pure dynamite, when WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion undefeated KO dreadnought Artur Beterbiev defends his belts against Anthony Yarde at the OVO Arena in London on January 28th.
Anthony 23-2, 22 KO`s, comes to this monumental challenge with home turf advantage, but taciturn tactician Artur 18-0, 18 KO`s has succinctly stated, location doesn`t bother him a jot, as it`s the opponent he`s focused upon and coming for! Of Chechen descent, Artur born in Khasavyurt Dagestan, who`s based in Montreal and a Canadian citizen, doesn`t mince words…only opponents. He starkly states: “I never back down from a challenge.”
Gravelly voiced mogul of Top Rank Bob Arum, who at ninety one is as shrewd and astute as ever, sagely delves into decades of dusty archives, when he says of the light heavyweight greats, that he co-promoted John Conteh, promoted formidable Bob Foster and rugged Jorge Ahumada. Yet, Artur is: “Really something special. He`s a tremendous puncher, a great fighter, takes a good punch and it`ll take un unbelievable performance to beat him!”
Artur built a solid foundation as an amateur. Silver at the 2007 World Championships, gold at the 2008 World Cup, gold at 2009 World Championships, gold at the 2006 and 2010 European Championships and he reached the quarter finals of the 2012 Olympics in London in the heavyweight division. By contrast, Anthony only had twelve amateur bouts before turning pro, and he took to the paid ranks like a duck to water.
Anthony has had a couple of significant stumbles as a pro, he`s learned from them and he`s greatly improved as a fighter. In his nineteenth fight, he impetuously challenged Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev for the WBO Belt at the Traktor Sport Palace in Chelyabinsk, Russia and got run over in the eleventh with a jarring, stunning, punctuating left jab. It could have been so very different. In round eight Anthony launched an onslaught which had Sergey in real trouble, wobbling and on the brink of defeat as the bell sounded. But Anthony had used up the entirety of his final residue of energy, the tank was then empty and the wily Russian showed remarkable powers of recovery plus resilience, dug deep and rallied to turn the tables. So near….yet so far.
Three fights later in the depths of the awful pandemic in front of only a handful of vocal cornermen, Anthony lost a split decision to tall lanky Lyndon Arthur, who out-jabbed him in a dull fight which lacked vim minus fan din. He`s since put that right. With the rematch, also for the Commonwealth belt and in front of a huge crowd, three hundred and sixty four days later, Anthony came out like a man possessed and a man on mission, as the bell rang.
He immediately closed the range and attacked in a toe to toe slugfest. In round four, he backed Lyndon against the ropes, clobbered him with some massive body punches and a right uppercut felled him. Lyndon beat the count but the Referee swiftly moved in to save him. He`d tried to invest, but he was spent! Prior to this upcoming fight, Anthony dispatched Stefani Koykov via a third round KO.
Artur has faced, overcome and overwhelmed his share of problems and challenges. His hardest fight was the unification against tall, hard hitting also undefeated WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozkyk who caught him with a lot of blows. IBF champ Artur weathered them, demonstrating a cast iron chin, while showing the mettle of resolve coupled with a tireless willingness to go to war.
The cumulative effect from clusters of body punches hiccupped Oleksandr`s onslaught and Artur felled him with a left hook in the sixth. From that point onwards Artur`s relentless nature turned the tide and huge rights put the Ukrainian down twice in the tenth for a TKO stoppage. It had been a firestorm and a belated baptism of fire!
Then a thistle of an epistile and a red letter day, in a bloodbath against southpaw Marcus Browne. Artur emerged from an accidental clash of heads in the fourth with a horrendous vertical gash on his forehead, pouring blood. Artur didn`t panic although several rounds later the Ring doctor who inspected the wound appeared pale and concerned, before giving the go ahead to continue, as by now Artur`s face was a mask of crimson.
Artur sank his dividends into a drilling body attack and his might-right dropped a tiring Marcus in the seventh. A hellacious eighth and an extra body of work set up Marcus for a left uppercut which felled him in the ninth. Battered, buzzed and exhausted, he wisely waited until the count had reached ten to get up and give up at forty six seconds. He`d been blitzed!
Artur took out WBO champion Joe Smith in two dazzling rounds, dropping him twice and scrambling Joe`s reflexes to the extent that his legs and body seemed to be going in different directions. Joe had tried to mix it, make a fight of it and came off second best. Anthony was next on this list although Artur had stated he`s prefer to fight WBA champion Dmitry Bivol to decide a single ruler in the light heavyweight division. But he had to undergo minor surgery on his right knee, so here we are, early in the New Year, and mark my words, Marcus is next up.
Artur is no spring chicken, although in his case it might be apt to suggest that the eagle has landed, at the top of the pecking order. His birthday falls on January 21st. So by the time of the fight he`ll be thirty eight years old. By contrast Anthony is seven years younger.
In a fight, both lean heavily on the weight of the right. Artur fights out of a high guard with his gloves cupped close to his face, while Anthony is more loose limbed, often dangerously dangling his left lead perilously low, which exposes him.
Fighting, rather than boxing is Anthony`s forte. He has to establish himself early and try to put a pressure fighter under intense pressure. Artur is akin to a punching machine. He never stops coming forward, attempting to drive back an opponent, so he can close in, home in and overwhelm at short range. Anthony does have the power to gain his attention and garner a modicum of respect, but it`s going to be a herculean task for the Londoner.
Old as he is, Artur adorned by his jutting bushy beard which gives him the appearance of an Old Testament Prophet, although he`s a devout Muslim, is dedicated to conditioning and he`s a firm believer in the work maxim: ”Every day and in every way, I`m getting BETER and BETER.”
Tale of the Tape
ARTUR BETERBIEV
WBC Light Heavyweight World Champion, 4th title defence
Age: 38
Date of birth: January 21, 1985
Residence: Montréal, Québec, Canada
Birthplace: Khasavyurt, Dagestan, Russia
Record: 18-0, 18 KOs
Total rounds: 83
World championship fights: 7-0, 7 KOs
Height: 5’11.5” – 182cm
Reach: 73” – 185cm
Stance: Right-handed
Manager: Self-managed
Trainer: Marc Ramsay
ANTHONY “The Beast from the East” YARDE
World title contender
Age: 31
Date of birth: August 13, 1991
Residence: Ilford, Essex, UK
Birthplace: Hackney, London, UK
Record: 23-2, 22 KOs
Total rounds: 90
World championship fights: 0-1
Height: 6’0” – 1.83cm
Reach: 72” – 1.83 cm /
Stance: Right-handed
Manager / trainer: Tunde Ajayi
