Date: 28/01/2023
Venue: OVO Arena
TV: BT Sport
Anthony Yarde looks to have bitten off more than he can chew by challenging WBC, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
Yard will have home advantage at Wembley in London, but veteran title holder Beterbiev is rated a class apart and should wear down his opponent.
We like 9/5 for the favourite to prevail during rounds seven to 12 as our first Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde prediction.
Artur Beterbiev Odds
Beterbiev is known as a big puncher, having won all 18 of his professional bouts inside the distance, but he was also a superb amateur.
Representing Russia, the 38-year-old struck gold at the 2009 World Championships and two European Championships.
After the 2012 Olympics, he moved to Montreal to begin a career in the paid ranks and has been classed as Canadian since last year.
Beterbiev claimed the IBF belt in just his 12th pro fight, stopping Enrico Kolling in the final round of a one-sided contest.
British champion Callum Johnson was beaten in his first defence and the WBC title was added to his CV via a 10th-round triumph over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019.
WBO champ Joe Smith Jr was blown away inside two rounds in New York last summer and a big-money unification match with WBA kingpin Dmitry Bivol is the ultimate target.
First, though, Beterbiev must negotiate a mandatory defence versus Yarde, which was originally scheduled for October but delayed due to an undisclosed injury.
The champion has the power to put Yarde away but, with one eye on making sure of the Bivol bout, could take his time before opening up.
Looking at the Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde odds, we think 3/1 for him to get the job done in rounds seven to nine is another fair price.
Anthony Yarde Odds
Yarde only had a dozen amateur bouts but has performed with great credit throughout his pro career.
The 31-year-old, from Hackney, has won 23 of his 25 fights, with 22 of those victories coming inside the distance.
He rattled off 18 straight wins before challenging for the WBO title then held by the excellent Sergey Kovalev.
Yarde had his moments in that bout but was eventually stopped in round 11, with Kovalev praising his opponent’s bravery.
The Beast from the East suffered his only other defeat when going down by a split decision to Lyndon Arthur in December 2020.
A year later, he avenged that loss when knocking out Arthur in round four to secure the Commonwealth title.
November’s early triumph over Stefani Koykov was a nice warm-up for this contest and he is now ready to step up in class again.
“I need to stop fighting monsters but I got into this sport to fight the best,” said Yarde. “Lions have no choice but to hunt if they are going hungry.”
The Londoner has age and possibly speed on his side, but we just fear it will another case of being game, but ultimately outgunned at the highest level.
For those wanting a bigger pay-out, let’s go with 11/1 for an eighth-round stoppage to complete our Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde betting tips.
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