Who is Anthony Yarde’s next opponent?
Things you didn’t know about Anthony Yarde’s next opponent, Marko Nikolic
“The Beast from the East” Anthony Yarde (24-3, 23KO) continues his comeback campaign with his first fight of the year against Marko Nikolic (32-3, 12KO) on the Hamzah Sheeraz-Liam Williams card at the Copper Box on February 10.
Trained by Tunde Ajayi, 32-year-old world title contender from Hackney bounced back with a second-round stoppage win against Jorge Silva in September, eight months on from his knockout defeat to unified light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
Now, the popular puncher resumes his rebuild against Belgrade boxer Marko Nikolic, but who is he? Find out all about him here:
Marko Nikolic
Marko Nikolic was born on April 18, 1989 in Grocka, Serbia.
As an amateur, he was trained by Branko Dimic Dimke at the Crvena Zvezda Red Star, who sadly passed away recently in 2018. Branko was a Yugoslavian boxing legend who had 317 amateur bouts, amassing an incredible record of 281-23-13.
Nikolic defeated European, Olympic and World amateur champion Evgeny Tishenko on points in a 2011 amateur bout in Croatia.
He defeated Mile Nikolic on points in his pro debut in July 2013.
Marko won the WBC Mediterranean light-heavyweight title in his 24th contest in 2019.
He reached 27-0 before being stopped with 32 seconds to go in the final round of his WBC International Silver super-middleweight clash with Russian Sergei Gorokhov in 2021.
He was also knocked out by unbeaten Italian Ivan Zucco, now ranked WBC #14, during their WBC International super-middleweight title contest in April 2022 in Italy.
He is 6’ 2” tall, which is 2” taller than Yarde.
He is married to Andjela Nikolic and they have two young children together.
Marko is a big basketball fan and has attended games at his local club, KK Crvena Zvezda, as a guest of honour. He is friends with basketball player Borisa Simanic.
He is very religious, attends church regularly, and is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. He also spends a lot of time raising money for children’s charities.
Of his upcoming fight with Yarde, Marko stated, “On February 10th, I enter the ring against the world-class Anthony Yarde. Maybe he is stronger and more experienced, but I have a ‘crazy head’ that always goes to the end. This will be the biggest challenge and experience, but I believe that I will do my best as always.”
Follow Marko Nikolic on Instagram