Anthony Yarde Eyes Matchup With ‘Beast’ Artur Beterbiev

Anthony Yarde was very impressed with Artur Beterbiev on Saturday night.

Yarde was watching ringside when Beterbiev dominated Joe Smith Jr. and scored a second-round TKO win. It was a great performance and after the fight, Yarde says he was impressed with his power.

“He’s a beast,” Yarde said backstage. “He hits very hard. I’m a beast, too. That’s why I think it’s such an exciting matchup.”

With Beterbiev defending his WBC and IBF light heavyweight titles and winning the WBO light heavyweight belt, there is a chance he could make a mandatory title defense against Yarde in October.

If it happens, it would be a very fun fight, but for Yarde, he wasn’t too surprised Beterbiev won.

“I knew they were gonna come at each other, and it was literally whoever landed first,” Yarde said. “I think [Smith] had a chance, of course. They’ve both knockout punching power. And when two fighters like that come together, there’s due to be an exciting fight and quite possibly a knockout.”

Anthony Yarde is 22-2 but hasn’t fought since last October, however, he is confident he can hand Beterbiev his first career loss. He thinks he possesses a bigger threat than Smith Jr. did and his speed and strength will play a role in defeating the undefeated champ.

“I just feel we’re different fighters,” Yarde said. “And I feel like Joe Smith Jr.’s best chance was to go out and done what he did. But again, he’s come up a bit short… I think I was younger then mentally and physically, and especially with experience. I feel like I’m a lot more experienced now and I’m a lot more prepared mentally. Even in training camps, making the weight, etcetera, I feel like I’m a lot better now.”

Would you like to see Anthony Yarde vs. Artur Beterbiev next?