At the weekend in London (England), light-heavy knockouts Arthur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) and Anthony Yard (23-3, 22 KOs) amused boxing fans with a dashing mahach. The fight turned out to be much more competitive than expected, but the favorite still won – the Russian Beterbiev, who plays for Canada, knocked out a local opponent in the 8th round, defended his WBC, IBF and WBO belts.
Beterbiev Yard. Fireworks in London – a report about this fight
British experts Gareth Davis and Spencer Oliver pleased with what they saw.
Davis: Many will even call this fight one of the greatest that has ever been held in Britain. Yard did what he was supposed to do. He pressed, put pressure on Beterbiev, tested him. Arthur had never worked under such pressure before. Beterbiev, as for me, proved his greatness. I don’t know how much time he will still spend at this level, because he is 38 years old. But he still has great footwork, often doubling and even throwing jabs and then throwing hooks. At times he “depicted a possum”, but a few times he was really hit.
Spencer: I think that the stoppage of the fight was timely. But there is another side of the coin. Already at the start, Yard painfully missed a left hook right before the gong, looked puzzled. He asked something in the corner of the coach James Cook. And at that moment it seemed to me that he was on the verge of capitulation. But he pulled himself together and seized the initiative. He had moments, he had chances. There were moments during the fight when Beterbiev did not look so confident in his abilities.
Davis: Yard had a great plan for the fight. But he still did not do everything he had to do. He never dropped Beterbiev. But there were chances. And twice he was caught on the counterattack at the time when he clamped the opponent in the corner. This version of Yard would have beaten and timed Sergey Kovalev.
Spencer: Definitely! He is still young. He has two defeats in titles, but he has gained incredible experience in these fights. Do you know how I evaluate these two title defeats of his at this stage of his career? I’d say it’s better too early than too late. Because in the first case there is still a chance to fix something, and in the second it is already gone …
Yesterday, ex-world champion Tony Bellew named the boxer who will stop Beterbiev. More precisely, two boxers. Rumor has it that Arthur’s superfight with Bivol can take place in the summer. Tells the promoter of the knockout.
