Trainer Tunde Ajayi realizes Artur Beterbiev’s power is the real article – the speed of his punches, on the other hand, is another question.
Ajayi, the head trainer of British 175-pound contender Anthony Yarde, received a first-hand look at the feared Russian mauler this past Saturday at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Beterbiev, the IBF and WBC champion, battered WBO titlist Joe Smith Jr. into forcing the referee Harvey Dock to call for a second-round stoppage in a 12-round light heavyweight unification bout.
Yarde, 30, was present at the fight, as the London native is tabbed to be the next opponent for Beterbiev. A WBO mandatory, Yarde is expected to face Beterbiev, who resides in Montreal, in October at London’s O2 Arena.
Yarde’s trainer Ajayi was not exactly impressed by Beterbiev’s performance, saying he thought the Russian’s punches were “slower” than he had originally thought. He also characterized them as “clubbing.” At the same time, Ajayi conceded that Beterbiev, who has knocked out every opponent he has ever faced, does indeed have heavy hands. Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) dropped Smith three times in their bout on Saturday.
“Seeing him live, I’ll be honest with you, I thought he would be faster,” Yarde told BoxingScene.com. “The shots to me were slower and clubbing. Obviously, there’s power behind them. He’s knocked out everybody.”
Ajayi cautioned that Smith, a former day laborer from Mastic, Long Island, should not be used as a measuring stick as it relates to Yarde.
“I always look at my charge, my fighter, and Anthony – Joe Smith doesn’t possess anything like Anthony Yarde,” Ajayi said. “You have Joe Smith, Anthony, they are two different fighters. Two different skillsets. And Beterbiev, big puncher, obviously hits very hard, but we’ll see how he responds to Anthony.”
Yarde (22-2, 21 KOs) came up short in his lone 175-pound title bid in 2019, when he faced then WBO titlist Sergey Kovalev. Yarde had nearly knocked out Kovalev in the middle rounds, but he was unable to sustain the pressure. Eventually, the Russian roared back to stop the Brit in the 11th round.
Ajayi thought Beterbiev-Smith ended sooner than he expected but was still in line with his original forecast.
“I think it’s what most people expected,” Ajayi said of the fight. “I thought people thought it would go a bit longer than that, the second round of the fight. I think Joe, listen, I’ve already said. You’ve got to respect the guy. He went all out, he went all out on his shield. Good luck to him in the future.”