A former rival of Anthony Yarde has shared his thoughts on the Brit’s upcoming showdown with David Benavidez.
Benavidez is set to make the first defence of his WBC light-heavyweight title against Yarde on Saturday November 22 at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Yarde has already challenged for a version of the world light-heavyweight championship twice during his career to date, although he fell short on both occasions in bouts with Sergey Kovalev in 2019 and Artur Beterbiev in 2023.
Benavidez was elevated to full WBC world champion earlier this year, having previously held the interim version of the title. The 28-year-old was in line to face Dmitry Bivol but the Russian opted to vacate the title after staying he was pursuing a trilogy bout with Artur Beterbiev instead.
One man that has more experience than anyone in sharing the ring with Yarde is Lyndon Arthur, who has fought ‘The Beast from the East’ on several occasions throughout the course of his professional career.
Arthur defeated Yarde in their first encounter back in 2020, but was beaten in their rematch and trilogy bout, with their most recent fight taking place on the undercard of Conor Benn vs. Chris Eubank Jr. earlier this year.
In an interview with Pro Boxing Fans, Arthur shared his thoughts on the upcoming clash between his former rival and Benavidez, as he admits he believes the fight will go ‘one of two ways’.
“Look, I think it can go one of two ways, this is my opinion, this is no disrespect to Yarde, this is no disrespect to Benavidez, I think Yarde can knock him out early or get stopped late, that’s just how I think the fight’s gonna go.”
Fireworks are expected when the two men clash later this year, with both fighters likely to go for the stoppage and try to close the show in dramatic fashion.
