THE BLOCKBUSTER REMATCH between Lyndon Arthur and Anthony Yarde will take place at the Copper Box Arena in London on Saturday December 4, live on BT Sport.
The showdown between the two top light heavyweights falls a year on from the pair’s close-fought Battle of Westminster at Church House, where Arthur prevailed on the cards of two of the three judges and retained his Commonwealth title, while adding the vacant WBO Intercontinental belt to his collection.
More importantly, Arthur’s victory saw him steal a march on his rival and become the No.1 ranked contender for the WBO world title currently held by the American Joe Smith jr.
Yarde (21-2), who dropped down to 12, is desperate to avenge his loss and leapfrog Arthur (19-0) and return to the top of the rankings ahead of a mandatory challenge being assigned to Smith jr.
Arthur maintained his unbeaten record as a professional and added a 13th KO to his tally with victory over the Italian Davide Faraci at the Royal Albert Hall in July, with Yarde returning to winning ways with a quickfire stoppage of Alex Theran in Birmingham at the end of August.
Now Yarde and Arthur will again trade bombs with each other once again, this time in front of fans at the atmospheric Copper Box on the edge of the Olympic Park.
Promoter Frank Warren said: “This is a fight that needs an audience roaring them both on. It was a decent fight last time but there was something big missing and that was the fighters being inspired by fans in the arena.
“I believe the fans at the Copper Box will make a huge difference and we will get something very special from Lyndon and Anthony.
“We had tried to get the Arena in Manchester but venue availability was a struggle. That said, I have absolute faith that the London audience will get behind the fight and roar them both on.
“Lyndon and Anthony are both world class, explosive light heavyweights and putting them together again makes for a huge domestic occasion.
“The stakes are very high. The winner will sit in the No.1 spot with the WBO and be firmly in place for a world title shot in 2022.
“We are in for a great night on December 4 and we will be making further announcements on what will be a bumper card in due course.”