Light-heavyweight contender Anthony Yarde appears poised for a domestic clash in his next fight and is being linked to a host of opponents, mainly Joshua Buatsi, doubt has been cast on the all-London showdown after Yarde criticised Buatsi’s demands.
Yarde bounced back from a second unsuccessful world title challenge with back-to-back early knockout wins during the last six months.
Those performances have lined the 32-year-old up for a battle against one of his fellow Brits, and it appeared that it would be Buatsi, after talks of a potential Callum Smith fight quietened down.
However, in an interview with Boxing Scene, Yarde revealed that Buatsi and his team are at fault for prolonged negotiations, before admitting his hope that the bout takes place at a stadium.
“There’s a lot of back and forth in negotiations. A lot of unrealistic wants and things like that from certain people.
“We’ll see what happens. I want the fight. He’s saying he wants the fight. It’s about trying to get a fair deal going, and trying to make the fight happen for ourselves and the fans.
“Nothing’s been agreed yet. With the negotiations there’s so much different things being said – hopefully we can finalise something.
“If it’s a stadium fight and it sells out – icing on the cake. If not, as long as there’s a fantastic crowd, the atmosphere’s great, and it’s a good fight and I win, it’ll be an amazing night.”
Whilst Yarde-Buatsi would stand out as one of Britain’s biggest events of 2024, there was also some belief that Yarde could be called upon for the upcoming Queensberry versus Matchroom card in Saudi Arabia on June 1st.