‘The Beast from the East’ has long been mentioned alongside Joshua Buatsi in what would be one of the most exciting fights to make between two British fighters.
It’s one of many domestic dust ups that the fans would like to see in the light heavyweight division. What’s stopping them all is the pursuit of world titles – none of which rest on this side of the world. Still, call outs have been ramping up recently, particularly when it comes to Yarde and Buatsi.,,
Things become slightly more complicated given that Anthony Yarde is with Frank Warren’s Queensbury and Buatsi is represented by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom. Although an offer has been made to Yarde to face his fellow light heavyweight, he told Intu Boxing, but he believes it was more tactical than the other team let on.
“Absolutely [the fight can happen]. [When] you’re in the same weight class the fight’s always possible. He’s on his path, I’m on my path, and me and him both want that fight – but you’ve got to ask me at the right time.”
“Eddie Hearn’s a master at, not fooling the public, but making the public think that things are absolutely true. They only came to me with that fight once they knew I had Beterbiev. Once they know I’ve got a massive fight coming up next. So it’s about when you offer the fight. They’re going to go ‘oh we offered him this much to fight’ – I’ve got a unification bout, Buatsi’s bringing nothing to the table other than a domestic dust up.”
“I’m not scared of absolutely no fighter, and I’ve shown that time and time again. So I’m going to go for the biggest possible fight, and that’s Beterbiev.”
Yarde has previous to back up his closing statement. He travelled to Chelyabinsk, Russia to face Sergey Kovalev for the WBO belt back in 2019. The Brit was stopped in the eleventh, but not before almost taking the Russian out of there. It was a gutsy performance against a great, although ageing, fighter.
The challenge he mentions against Artur Beterbiev is worth mentioning too. The Russian-Canadian is that rare form of champion who has a perfect knockout record – 18 wins, 18 inside the distance. He holds the IBF, WBO, and WBC lightweight titles.
The pair were to face off in October until an injury ruled the champion out. This has led Yarde to pursue a keep-busy bout, and the reason the Buatsi conversation has come around once more. It’s unlikely to happen next though, as ‘JB’ has been ordered to face Jean Pascal.