The fight with Briton Anthony Yard will certainly not be as easy as with American Joe Smith Jr., but the Russian Arthur Beterbiev will wreak havoc at the expense of superior physical strength and achieve a quick victory in later rounds. This opinion was expressed by the 2016 Olympic champion, now a professional heavyweight boxer, in a conversation with . Yevgeny Tishchenko .
Beterbiev will defend his WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight titles against mandatory challenger WBO Yard on Jan. 28 in London. The Russian has 18 first wins in 18 fights in the professional ring. Yard has 23 wins and two losses. Yard is familiar to the Russian viewer from the 2019 fight in Chelyabinsk with Russia’s Sergey Kovalev, in that fight Yard lost earlier than expected.
– Yard is a tough boxer, and we saw that in his fight with Kovalev. I think it’s a tough fight for Artur, and for him this fight will be far. I’ve seen the quotes from the bookies, that Beterbiev is a clear favorite, but Arthur has to be very careful and well prepared. I think Arthur will take the “physical”, but the fight will not be easy, especially in the first rounds. It won’t be as easy as in a duel with Joe Smith. I think the Yard team will take into account that Arthur doesn’t need to be physically bullied. In general, Arthur will have a tough fight, but I think he will win earlier than expected in the final rounds, Tishchenko told .
In his last fight in June, Beterbiev defeated Smith in the second round by TKO to add the WBO light heavyweight title to his WBC and IBF belts.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
