Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde – Results & Post Fight Report

Artur Beterbiev successfully defended his WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight titles, but he was given a tougher than expected test before finally grinding down Anthony Yarde to score an eighth round stoppage at the OVO Arena, Wembley.

This was Yarde’s second crack at a world title, having been spirited early on before being halted in eleven in Russia by then WBO champion Sergey Kovalev in August 2019, while Beterbiev had never previously been the distance, and had picked up three world title belts along the way, the last the WBO strap in a two round blowout of Joe Smith Jr last June.

Yarde (23-3, KO22) did well under pressure in the opening round, and he worked well on the counter as he enjoyed a solid start. Beterbiev (19-0, KO19) established his jab in round three, and gave the challenger a torrid time a round later, where Yarde looked out on his feet but he bravely survived. The fifth was an absorbing watch, with both men hurt, and the contest was turning into an unexpected classic, with Beterbiev putting his opponent under serious pressure, but Yarde was more than up for the fight, although badly cut. The champion would gradually begin to stamp his authority though, and from the seventh, he began to crank up the pressure, and in the eighth that pressure started to tell, a chopping right hand having Yarde on the deck and badly hurt as well as tired. Yards somehow beat the count, but a follow up attack forced his corner to step in to stop the fight.

Karol Itauma (9-1, KO7) won his denied his first professional title, the vacant WBC International light heavyweight strap, as Argentina’s Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna (29-10, KO19) scored a stunning upset with a fifth round knockout. Itauma’s defence was leaky on several occasions, and Maderna found a straight right hand through the guard of Itauma that robbed his legs from underneath him, and he was unable to beat the count.

Moses Itauma (1-0, KO1) made his professional debut in difficult circumstances after watching his brother suffer defeat, but the heavyweight got off to a perfect start, knocking out Marcel Bode (2-2, KO2) in just over 20 seconds with a left hand to the head.

The second world title fight on the card went the way of Artem Dalakian (22-0, KO15), as he defended his WBA flyweight title for a sixth time with a competitive points win against Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (12-1, KO9). The champion pulled away in the later rounds, and took the win by scores of 115-113 (twice) and 116-112.

Tommy Fletcher (4-0, KO3) was put in with Darryl Sharp (7-97-1, KO1), a man who had only been stopped three times in 96 previous defeats, and the East Anglian had to go all six rounds in a 60-54 win at cruiserweight.

Khalid Ali (5-0, KO3) opened the televised portion of the card, and the super welterweight needed just a round to see off Ivica Gogosevic (12-45-2, KO5). Gogosevic was down twice in the opener, initially by chopping right hands, and then several clubbing blows had him down again towards the end of the round, where the Croatian’s corner had seen enough.

Charles Frankham (7-0, KO2) triumphed at super featherweight, taking all six rounds against Columbian Carlos Ocampo (8-11-4, KO6).

Joshua Frankham (7-0, KO2) gained further experience, and nearly had Joe Hardy (2-5, KO0) out of the contest a few times, but had to settle for a 60-54 win in a six rounder at welterweight.

Sean Noakes (4-0, KO2) enhanced his reputation, as the Kent based welterweight wiped out Santiago Garces (4-13-3, KO2) in the fifth of a scheduled six rounds.

Umar Khan (6-0, KO0) took a six round points win at featherweight against Sandeep Singh Bhatti (8-6, KO1).

Masood Abdullah (8-0, KO5) opened the show, and was taken the distance for only the third time in his career, but he won all six rounds at in his super featherweight contest with Lesther Lara (17-14-2, KO7).