Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde went head to head in a highly anticipated light heavyweight championship fight at Wembley Arena on January 28th, 2023. The outcome was a triumph for Beterbiev, who delivered a technical knockout in the 8th round.
Beterbiev entered the ring with an impressive record of 18 wins and zero losses, with 18 of those wins coming by way of knockout. On the other hand, Yarde had 23 wins, 2 losses, and 22 knockouts under his belt. The stats showed that Beterbiev had a slight edge in power over Yarde, with a knockout percentage of 100% compared to Yarde’s 96%.
The two fighters both adopted an orthodox stance and Beterbiev had a 1-inch reach advantage. Although Yarde was younger by 7 years, Beterbiev was the more experienced fighter, having made his professional debut in 2013, a year and 11 months earlier than Yarde.
In terms of form, Beterbiev was unstoppable, having stopped 5 of his recent opponents. He was the reigning champion in the WBC, IBF, and WBO light heavyweight division and had defeated top contenders like Joe Smith Jr and Marcus Browne in his previous fights. Yarde, on the other hand, had stopped 4 of his last 5 opponents, including Lyndon Arthur and Stefani Koykov.
Leading up to the fight, Yarde had been more active, with his last fight 2 months and 11 days prior. Beterbiev, on the other hand, had last fought 7 months and 12 days prior. Both fighters had fought an average of 5 rounds in their last 5 fights, with Yarde fighting more frequently at an average of every 5 months and 23 days.
