Photo: REUTERS
At Wembley Stadium in London, the professional boxing evening ended, in the main fight in which the undefeated Russian Artur Beterbiev defended three light heavyweight world titles: WBC, IBF and WBO.
Opposing the 38-year-old Beterbiev, who has 18 early wins in 18 fights, was Britain’s Anthony Yarde. The 31-year-old boxer had 23 wins (22 by knockout) and two losses.
The two knockout fight had a bright sign. Beterbiev crushed all previous opponents with his power, ending fights ahead of schedule. The Yard has recently gained momentum with three straight wins. Although before he had a defeat by knockout against another Russian (Sergei Kovalev) and against the British Lyndon Arthur. Yard knocked out the latter in the second fight.
Beterbiev was considered the favorite for the fight, but few in Britain agreed with this. But they all agreed on one thing: the fight is unlikely to last its allotted 12 rounds. Viewers expected “cut”.
Photo: REUTERS
In the first round, the opponents performed a combat reconnaissance, exchanging several tangible blows. And in the second, Beterbiev and Yard began to exchange blows more actively, while the Briton tried not to concede. In the next round, the boxers attacked more with jabs, and the Russian clearly had a little more success in this.
And right at the start of the fourth, Beterbiev unloaded a barrage of blows on the Briton, causing him problems on a couple of occasions. Yard was about to explode in response, but missed. It was noticeable that the power of the champion’s blows was clearly stronger.
The fifth round went well for Yard, but ultimately Beterbiev pinned him in the corner and dealt significant damage. The gong sounded just in time for the Briton. It was not possible to develop success, besides, Beterbiev had a cut on his left eye, which made him a little anxious.
Yard spent the next round more actively, but in the end he again stalled on the spot a bit and allowed Beterbiev to land a series of punches. And in the eighth round, Yard missed and ended up on the ring floor. The referee resumed the fight after the knockdown, but Beterbiev’s next attack was his last. The fight was stopped. There’s an early win number 19! Beterbiev defended his titles.
