Lyndon Arthur vs Anthony Yarde II – Results & Post-Fight Report

It was revenge and not repeat at the Copper Box Arena, as Londoner Anthony Yarde took the Commonwealth and WBO Intercontinental Light Heavyweight titles with a fourth round knockout of Lyndon Arthur.

It was near enough a year to the day since their original meeting, where Arthur took a split decision win off a superb jab at Church House in Westminster, and the pair renewed rivalries in front of a live crowd in Hackney Wick, where this time Yarde left no doubt.

Yarde went on the attack from the off, landing with clubbing right hands that Manchester man Arthur took well, and the champion was under heavy fire in the opener. Arthur pumped his jab to begin round two, and the remainder of the frame was somewhat a power struggle, with both trying to impose their will on the other. Yarde planted his feet in the third and landed with some eye-catching shots, but Arthur had his own successes as the pair took turns to dish out hard shots. Yarde cranked up the pressure in the fourth, pinning Arthur to the ropes and he then unloaded with heavy punches, and a chopping right hand put a hurt Arthur on the canvas. The referee started the count, but a groggy Arthur was ruled unable to continue as he attempted to continue the contest.

Yarde now moves a step closer to a possible meeting with the winner of January’s meeting between WBO champion Joe Smith Jr, and Lincolnshire’s Callum Johnson.

Hamzah Sheeraz defended his WBO European super welterweight title with a tougher than expected ninth round stoppage of former British and Commonwealth welterweight champion, Bradley Skeete. Skeete did his best to frustrate Sheeraz, and shaded a lot of the rounds on offer early doors, but he started to unravel late on. The eighth saw Sheeraz docked a point for hitting Skeete while he was on the floor, but on the resumption, a big right hand put Skeete on the floor. He beat the count and survived the round, but a round later, chopping lefts and rights forced the challenger to the canvas again, and the referee broke the count to stop the fight.

Sam Noakes claimed his first professional title, taking the vacant WBC International Silver lightweight belt with a ninth round stoppage of Shaun Cooper. Cooper was down from an accumulation of punches in the penultimate frame, and although Cooper beat the count, a follow up attack caught the attention of the referee, who called a halt to the contest.

Dennis McCann continued his education, as he recorded a shutout win over eight against Juan Jose Jurado. ’The Menace’ took an 80-72 win on the referee’s scorecard.

Karol Itauma wasted little time moving to 5-0, stopping Tamas Laska inside a round. A body shot did the damage, with the visitor not interested in beating the count.

George Fox suffered his first defeat as a professional, as he was turned over in an eight round heavyweight contest against the always durable Kamil Sokolowski, The Pole took 79-75 win for referee, Lee Every.

At super featherweight, Charles Frankham stopped Constantin Radoi in four rounds, while Masood Abdullah notched a stoppage win against Paul Holt at the same weight. Sonny Liston Ali made it two wins from two with a win against Lee Hallett at super lightweight.