Anthony Yarde is amongst the top of the UK’s impressive crop of light-heavyweights, with Callum Smith and Joshua Buatsi, but will be a huge underdog in his upcoming fight against unified world-champion Artur Beterbiev.
Knockout artist Yarde (23-2) has won twenty-two fights by knockout, with last years win against Lyndon Arthur the pick of the bunch. His exciting style has made him a must-watch star and his fight against Beterbiev looks set to be the most enthralling of all.
This will be the 31-year-old’s second attempt at a world title, following defeat to Sergey Kovalev in Russia back in 2019, but as Yarde approaches his prime he will be hoping that his unsuccessful attempt will provide him with the experience to go one better this time out.
Meanwhile, Beterbiev (18-0) is one of the most feared punchers in the sport, having knocked out every opponent that he has faced.
The 37-year-old will undoubtedly have eyes on an undisputed title fight with WBA champion Dmitry Bivol next year and will see this mandatory defence as an obstacle to negate in his plans for a super fight with the Russian.
This will be Beterbiev’s first visit to the U.K. as a professional and will be hoping to improve on his last outing in ‘Old Blighty’, losing in the quarter-finals at the London 2012 Olympics against Oleksandr Usyk.
On the undercard, the WBA flyweight world title will be on the line as Artem Dalakian (21-0) faces Costa Rican David Jimenez (12-0) in the sixth defence of his reign as champion.
A win for either opponent is sure to set up unification fights with other superstars in the division, with Sunny Edwards seeming willing to fight for other belts and Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez dropping back down in weight to challenge for titles.
Plenty of Queensbury prospects are also on display, with Willy Hutchinson (15-1), Karol Itauma (9-0) and Tommy Fletcher (3-0) all set to appear on the card.
Despite a catalogue of quality fighters on the undercard to compliment an intriguing main event, Frank Warren has announced that the fight night will not be pay-per-view and will be available to watch live on BT Sport on January 28th.