Anthony Yarde relishing underdog status against Artur Beterbiev ahead of second world title shot

A photograph recently resurfaced of Anthony Yarde in a boxing gym in Camden just a few months after taking up boxing.

Also using the facility at the time were Russia’s Olympic boxing team on the eve of the 2012 Olympics in the capital. Among that group was Artur Beterbiev.

Looking over it, Yarde remembers thinking: “That’s that Beterbiev guy.” Eleven years on, he says: “Life has come full circle.”

For his part, the 38-year-old Russian, holder of the IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight belts, has no recollection of their brief coming together more than a decade before they meet in the ring at London’s OVO Arena on Saturday.

Beterbiev has been labelled a “monster” for his brutal punching, which has seen him win all 18 fights of his professional career, which began shortly after his London 2012 loss to Oleksandr Usyk, by knockout.

It is not a fight that is expected to go the distance, the majority of Yarde’s fights having reached an explosive conclusion before that final bell.

The 31-year-old Londoner may be the quicker man with the better feet of the pair but he steps into the ring as an overwhelming underdog against a fighter who has rarely looked troubled in the ring. But it is not a tag that unduly bothers him.

“Being the underdog, overdog, middle dog, it don’t matter to me, I’m a dog,” said Yarde. “When I get into that ring and start throwing my hands, everyone knows what I can be. All that underdog stuff doesn’t matter to me. It gives me that little push, that little urge.

“He’s got 18 fights, 18 wins, 18 KOs, he’s an Olympian, he’s done a lot in the sport. That’s why he should be respected.

“But when we get in the ring, there’s no respect. You try to take the respect away from your opponent. I understand why the bookies have it like that. That’s what spurs me on.”

This is Yarde’s second shot at a world title. In 2019, he travelled to Chelyabinsk to fight another Russian, Sergey Kovalev. He had Kovalev in all sorts of trouble early in the bout before his fitness let him down.

Looking back on the lessons learned, the Londoner said: “The first one everyone said I was very green. I was 18 fights in, a big novice in the sport. I had something, I had a heart.

“But all of that doesn’t matter. My preparation will be different this time. I’ve learned a lot since then. I’m a different type of fighter with different life experiences. Sometimes you go through certain things in your journey to strengthen you and prepare you. I’m ready for Saturday. I’m so excited.”

This time, he said, the prospect of three belts on the line “is going to mean the world to me”.

For his part, Beterbiev has eschewed any birthday celebrations at the weekend to focus on the fight, instead spending the day with a double dose of training in the ring. It was, as he put it with a smile, “a good birthday”.

The Russian, as he had done at the press conference to announce the fight, again described his opponent as a body builder but not as a barb, more as a mark of respect of Yarde’s muscular frame.

And asked if he was expecting a tough fight, Beterbiev said: “Our camp, we try to be ready for some different scenarios. If it’s a tough fight, we’re going to be ready. I try to do my best. I feel good.”