Promoter Frank Warren believes Anthony Yarde would have been crowned a world champion if his opponent last Saturday night in London went by the name of, say, Joe Smith Jr.
In reality, the opponent was Artur Beterbiev, the feared light heavyweight bruiser, who ended up stopping Yarde, 31, in the eighth round after Yarde’s corner implored the referee to stop the fight.
It was a shootout at OVO Arena Wembley for as long as it lasted, with the 31-year-old Briton putting on an admirable showing against one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport in Beterbiev, a 38-year-old native of Russia who now makes his home in Montreal. Beterbiev owns the WBC, WBO, and IBF 175-pound titles.
Warren, the head of Queensberry, expressed a tinge of regret that Yarde’s last two world title shots have come against legitimate champions, as opposed to walkovers in a vacant title scenario, as can often be the case in boxing. Yarde’s first title shot was in 2019, against then titlist Sergey Kovalev, who ended up knocking out Yarde in the 11th round. If the opponent on Saturday night had been of the caliber of Long Island’s Smith Jr., Warren believes Yarde would now be in possession of three 175-pound belts.
“If it had been another champion, somebody like Joe Smith or someone like that, I would’ve really fancied him to have won that fight and then gain more experience before you go up against someone like Beterbiev,” Warren told iFL TV. “He (Yarde) fought in a final eliminator with Lyndon Arthur and he done a job on him and that’s how he got the fight. He was determined to go through with it.”
Apparently, Warren may have been doing more than just name dropping by mentioning Smith, a former champion who is known for his clubbing, if crude, punching power. Smith lost his title to Beterbiev last summer via fourth-round stoppage at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
When asked if Smith could be a potential opponent for Yarde in the near future, Warren offered an enthusiastic affirmation. Saturday’s fight was promoted in conjunction with Top Rank, the company headed by Bob Arum, who promotes both Beterbiev and Smith.
“I’m gonna speak to Bob about it,” Warren said of a Yarde-Smith matchup. “It would be a great fight to make, yeah. It would be a great fight. Listen, that’s my opinion. I’m sure his (Smith’s) people have got—his management, whatever they got—they’ve got a different opinion. But that’d be a great fight to make.”
Warren felt Yarde was on the cusp of victory against Beterbiev, as evidenced by the fact that Yarde was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards from Saturday night’s fight. Many on social media, however, derided the judges that had Yarde ahead. Both South Korea’s Jun Bae Lim (68-65) and New York’s Robin Taylor (67-66) had Yarde ahead of Beterbiev at the time of stoppage. France’s Jerome Lades had Beterbiev ahead (67-66).
“It was a pendulum type of fight for a while,” Warren said. “But he (Yarde) done well. And he was in front [on the scorecards]. I made him in front, and the two judges that made him in front were both neutrals … I thought [Yarde] done extremely well. Had it been somebody else, another time, he’d be world champion. I mean, if he had been in there with Joe Smith, he would’ve been world champion.”
Warren said he expects Yarde to take a long break but that he will regroup with the fighter and his trainer, Tunde Ajayi, on figuring out their next steps.
“Whatever he wants to do obviously we’ll support him,” Warren said of Yarde.
“He’s 31, but he’s a very young 31,” Warren added. “It was a magnificent fight and magnificent effort from him.”