Anthony Yarde has won the world championship against the fearsome world champion Artur Beterbiev at the OVO Arena Wembley on January 28th.
Yarde stopped Stefani Koykov in the third round on Saturday night before confirming that he will challenge Beterbiev for the WBC, WBO and IBF light-heavyweight belts in London.
Beterbiev added the WBO belt to his list with a second stoppage of Joe Smith Jr in June, extending his record to 18 victories, all by knockout.
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Artur Beterbiev stopped Joe Smith Jr in two brutal rounds to unify the WBC, IBF and WBO world titles at Madison Square Garden.
“I didn’t back down from a challenge, and Anthony Yarde is a great competitor who asked for this fight,” said Beterbiev, who was defeated by Oleksandr Usyk at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“I’m looking forward to fighting in London for the first time since the Olympics.
“Yarde called me ‘slow’ after my fight with Joe Smith Jr, but slowly and steadily he wins the championship and on January 28, I will win in London.”
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Artur Beterbiev has stopped each of his opponents
Yarde was stopped by Sergey Kovalev in his only international fight of 2019, but the Hackney man has vowed to surprise Beterbiev.
“January 28th will be my night,” Yarde said. “My future is playing in my hometown, and that’s what I’ve been dreaming about throughout my career, which started at Wembley.
“I’m not going to make any big predictions about this fight against a very well-rounded champion in Artur Beterbiev, but what I can say is that I’m not going to give up anything, and I’m going to do well when I fight with fire.”
