Anthony Yarde appeared poised for a potential breakthrough fight in recent weeks, but it now seems as though that opportunity has passed, as a continuous contract dispute between he and his promoters has gotten in the way. Once again, their disagreements have been publicised and all signs point towards a sour split.
At present, each of the big four promotions in Britain have a player at 175lbs – Matchroom have Callum Smith, BOXXER have Joshua Buatsi, Wasserman have Lyndon Arthur and Queensberry have Anthony Yarde – although nobody in boxing appears able to decide who the country’s top contender is at the weight.
Yarde and Queensberry have made a habit of scoring knockout wins against domestic level opponents before jumping up to face dominant world champions in Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev – where Yarde was knocked out on both occasions after spirited displays.
However, it finally seemed that the Londoner would compete at world level against a fellow contender and that fans would be closer to determining the U.K.’s light-heavyweight poster boy when a clash between he and Buatsi was ordered by the WBO.
However, last month Yarde declared that he was a promotional free agent and that he had left Queensberry promotions – who have promoted him throughout his 28-fight career, a claim which Frank Warren and Queensberry denied.
With Buatsi-Yarde expected to take place on the Billam-Smith-Riakporhe card on June 15th, it was always going to be a race against the clock and it appears as though the clock has won, as the delay caused by Yarde’s contract issues led to the WBO instead ordering Buatsi to take on Willy Hutchinson as a result of Yarde’s ‘failure to comply with their order and his unavailability’.
Following the news, Yarde took to social media to once again inform the public and possibly the WBO that he was a promotional free agent and is free to discuss future contests with any promoters, a statement which Queensberry replied to and rebuffed.
Yarde – “As I said before I am a free agent. Queensberry have now agreed in writing that the term of my previous promotional agreement has expired. So I am free to negotiate my future fights with any promoters, including Queensberry. I’m excited about the future big fights.”
Queensberry – “We have seen the statement from Anthony Yarde today. Queensberry’s legal advice is that Anthony Yarde still has a contractual obligation to Queensberry, an obligation which Queensberry expects to be honoured.”
One man who will be hoping the delay continues is Hutchinson, who scored a career-best win over Craig Richards last weekend and could find himself challenging for the world title within two fights time, should he be able to defeat Joshua Buatsi for the WBO interim title.
That fight will not land on the June 15th card, although the respective teams have been given 30 days to negotiate until purse bids are called, opening the door for a possible clash later in the summer.
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