THE RUNDOWN: ARTUR BETERBIEV VS. ANTHONY YARDE

By: Jay Calderon

INTRO: One of the better fights to open up 2023 is just around the corner. On January 28 at Wembley Arena in London, England, and live on BT Sport (UK) and ESPN (USA), Light-Heavyweight titlist Artur Beterbiev will take on hard-hitting challenger Anthony Yarde.

It's an interesting clash to say the least, with a clear favorite in Beterbiev, but a capable underdog that has youth and hunger on his side. Both have solid power and can end the fight in a single shot, but both have enough variance in their styles that they bring something a bit more to the table.

So, without much more, let's get into the Tale of the Tape.

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TALE OF THE TAPE

ARTUR BETERBIEV || ANTHONY YARDE

37 - AGE - 31

Russian - NATIONALITY - England

6'0" - HEIGHT - 5'11"

73" - REACH - 72"

Orthodox - STANCE - Orthodox

Marc Ramsay - TRAINER - Tunde Ajayi

NOTES: What stands out to me most is the size of this pair of fighters. Perhaps due to his build, Yarde seems to visually come across as the naturally bigger man. However, in terms of height and reach, Beterbiev is the taller and longer fighter. Still, Yarde could be the stronger man of the two, especially early on, if he uses his overall mass.

What will be interesting is to view whether Yarde can find that perfect range to land his power shots, while not having to risk being caught so clean by a hard-hitting Beterbiev. Yarde's speed advantage will need to come into play. The biggest question mark for Beterbiev is whether his age has any plan on catching up to him. While a fresh fighter that hasn't been in many wars, he's still 37 years of age.

FIGHT STATS

ARTUR BETERBIEV || ANTHONY YARDE

06/08/2013 (W Christian Cruz, 2TKO) - DEBUT - 05/09/2015 (W Mitch Mitchell, 2KO)

18-0-0 (18KOs/100.00%) - RECORD - 23-2-0 (22KOs/88.00%)

83 - TOTAL ROUNDS FOUGHT - 90

4.61 - AVERAGE ROUNDS PER FIGHT - 3.60

10-0-0 (10KOs/100.00%) - RECORD IN PREVIOUS TEN - 8-2-0 (8KOs/80.00%)

7-0-0 (7KOs/100.00%) - CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD - 0-1-0 (0KOs/00.00%)

NOTES: The most obvious statistic that stands out in regards to Beterbiev is the knockout percentage. Effectively, he has been perfect in terms of getting guys out of there, knocking out every single opponent he's faced. While Yarde has only been stopped once, it was in his toughest test at the hands of Sergey Kovalev, back in 2019.

Yarde, to his credit, has been very successful in ending the nights early. He actually averages less rounds per fight than Beterbiev, with a KO percentage near 90% himself. However, the two areas you question is whether he can do it at the top level. You wonder this when considering that Yarde has faced very little world class opponents thus far in his career.

LAST THREE OPPONENTS

ARTUR BETERBIEV

W Joe Smith, Jr., 2TKO (06/18/2022)

W Marcus Browne, 9KO (12/17/2021)

W Adam Deines, 10TKO (03/20/2021)

ANTHONY YARDE

W Stefani Koykov, 3KO (11/19/2022)

W Lyndon Arthur, 4KO (12/04/2021)

W Alex Theran, 1KO (08/28/2021)

BETTING ODDS

ARTUR BETERBIEV || ANTHONY YARDE

-900 - STRAIGHT LINE - +500

-135 - OVER/UNDER: 5.5 - -105

NOTES: If you're into calling the long shots, Anthony Yarde gives you decent odds for sure, coming in at a 5-1 dog at this point. With Beterbiev, as to be expected, he's the heavy favorite and you're not finding much value in a straight up bet on the Russian. It might be low enough you could find some interesting action with another bet for a parlay, but, otherwise, not the greatest line.

The over/under is the far more intriguing option for me, overall. Either way you slice it, you have some solid value at the 5.5 mark of the contest. The question becomes whether or not you think this fight is shorter or longer than expected. And, frankly, I can imagine a situation in which either direction is taken in the encounter. 

BIGGEST QUESTIONS

The biggest question surrounding Beterbiev involve his age. He's closer to 40 than 30, and time has a way of sneaking up on boxers. Will Yarde bring the youthful energy that pushes Beterbiev over that edge? Also, Artur has been dropped by Callum Johnson in the past, and Yarde punches much harder, at least on paper. Does Beterbiev have the chin to withstand the best shot Yarde can throw?

With Yarde, one wonders whether he can last throughout a potentially long, grueling fight. While few expect this fight to go the distance, you have to prepare for the distance. And Yarde has shown that he can fade down the stretch, particularly when he was in against Sergey Kovalev. Has Yarde's stamina improved? And, as mentioned with Beterbiev, you wonder if Yarde has the power to stop Beterbiev, or at least stop him from coming inside freely?

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Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to let me know what you think by clicking here. Be sure to check out my prediction for Artur Beterbiev vs. Anthony Yarde coming up soon.