Joe Gallagher has weighed in with a prediction for this weekend’s upcoming unified light heavyweight world title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde, and is backing Beterbiev to retain his belts.
Gallagher does acknowledge that there is a possibility that the Russian now 38, could have lost a step, however he still viewed Yarde as the underdog.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, Gallagher said:
“It’s a great fight, really looking forward to it. Beterbiev’s a very good fighter, I don’t think Anthony Yarde’s going to show him anything he hasn’t seen before.”
“Father Time catches up with you – is this the fight where it catches up with Beterbiev? We’ll have to wait and see.”
“Anthony Yarde is a live underdog, but I just fancy Artur Beterbiev. It’s a good fight.”
Beterbiev and Yarde will lock horns at the OVO Arena in London on Saturday night for the WBC, IBF and WBO titles at 175lbs.
The contest will be Yarde’s second crack at capturing world honours, after he fell short against Beterbiev’s countryman Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
It is been an up and down period for the Brit since then, losing out to Lyndon Arthur in a British title fight before avenging that loss and going on to put in two destructive performances against lower level opposition.
With a record of 18-0, Beterbiev is widely regarded as one of the most feared punchers on the planet and is the only world champion in boxing to have won every one of his fights by stoppage.
The scale of Yarde’s task is reflected in the bookmakers’ odds, with “King Artur” a 1/8 favourite and the Hackey puncher a considerable underdog at 5/1.