Boxing: Anthony Yarde Stops Lyndon Arthur in all-British Grudge Match

Having lost to British rival Lyndon Arthur back in December of 2020, former world title challenger Anthony Yarde got himself back into world title contention with a clinical performance as the two met on Saturday night in a highly anticipated rematch.

Learning from that loss last December, Yarde knew that he had to be more aggressive in this rematch and push the pace from the get-go and he did just that. From round one, Yarde took the middle of the ring while commanding the action, landing heavy shots and asserting dominance. It was a polar opposite performance from the challenger in this fight from the pair’s first meeting as Yarde didn’t seem as reluctant to let his hands go and successfully got on the inside of the rangy Arthur’s dominant jab.

Anthony Yarde will be happy with his rematch performance

Gaining valuable experience in his world title challenge versus former WBO light heavyweight champion, Sergey Kovalev, Yarde showed on Saturday night that he is well beyond the domestic level now. In rounds two and three, he hurt the defending champion with a series of damaging hooks and strong right hands. With Yarde piling on the pressure and gaining success, the Londoner found an opening in the fourth round, when he seemed to hurt Arthur with some ferocious body blows. These shots had his opponent defending himself up against the ropes as Yarde continued hurling shots at Arthur, landing at will. Putting his shots together in combinations, Yarde impressively dropped Arthur with a mean right hook and the fight was over as the defending Commonwealth and WBO Inter-Continental champion never beat the count.

After the fight, Hall of Fame Promoter announced that Yarde had just earned himself a crack at the winner of reigning WBO world light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr, and Brit Callum Johnson next year with his impressive win.