Anthony Yarde was ahead on the scorecards against Artur Beterbiev before being brutally knocked out by the world champion.
Beterbiev defended his light-heavyweight world titles by stopping Yarde in the eighth round of their thrilling clash at the Wembley Arena on Saturday night. The Russian extended his unbeaten record to 19 professional fights with the win and also kept his 100 per cent knockout rate intact.
The three judges at ringside weren't called upon as Beterbiev dispatched Yarde with a frightening right hook, which led to his cornerman Tunde Ajayi throwing in the towel. Scorecards released from the fight show that judge Jun Bae Lim scored five of the seven rounds in favour of Yarde before the fight was stopped. Judge Robin Taylor had Yarde ahead by one round whilst Jerome Lades had it 67-66 in favour of Beterbiev.
Yarde was a considerable underdog heading into the second world title fight of his career, losing out on light-heavyweight for the belts for the first time when he was stopped by Sergey Kovalev in 2019. It was clear from the off that was going to make his clash against Beterbiev into a fire-fight, but the Brit's face was marked up after the early rounds.
Both men continued to land their power punches as the fight went on, with Yarde responding well to Beterbiev turning up the pace in the fourth round. Beterbiev had a great fifth round and landed some big uppercuts, with an accidental clash of heads worsening the damage on both fighters' faces.
They continued to go toe-to-toe in round seven but it was Beterbiev who landed the fight-ending blow in the next round, with Yarde taking a knee after the devastating right hook. The referee and Yarde's corner did allow him to recover but the fight was stopped when Beterbiev swarmed the Brit with a flurry of punches.
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Beterbiev said after the fight: Every fight is a different feeling and different preparation. I can't say I fought a very bad fight, but if I did it again I want to do better. Anthony has time and I hope he does well in the future. Every punch he did, we prepared for. That's why I kept coming back because we expected these punches.
The Russian is now set for a shot at the undisputed light-heavyweight world titles against fellow countryman Dmitry Bivol later this year, which would give him a huge chance to certify his status as a pound-for-pound great. Beterbiev could also be in for a fight against another Brit as former super-middleweight champion Callum Smith is eager to get his shot against him.
