Artur Beterbiev TKO5 Anthony Yarde ... Artur Beterbiev remained a three-belt light heavyweight champion, but Anthony Yarde (23-3, 22 KOs) exceeded all expectations and gave Beterbiev hell for seven-plus rounds in Wembley, England until Yarde's corner stopped the fight with their man in dire straits. With three non-Brits scoring the fight, Yarde was ahead on two of the three cards at the time of the stoppage: 68-65 and 67-66, while one judge had it 67-66 for Beterbiev. Yarde boxed well early on as Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) started slowly, perhaps deliberately so, and the Russian slowly turned up the intensity with each round. The last four rounds, five through eight, will rank among some of the best light heavyweight action in recent decades. Round five was a great round of action, with Yarde seeming to stagger Beterbiev but Beterbiev finishing strong and hurting Yarde at the bell. In round six, Beterbiev came out strong, testing Yarde to see if he had fully recovered. Yarde absorbed some big punches but began to fight back, and by the end of the frame, both men were cut around the eye. Beterbiev's wound was in a worse spot, just above the left eyelid, while Yarde's cut was below the right eye. Round seven saw more great action, with Yarde again getting hurt at the end. Early on in round eight, Beterbiev landed three punches, the last being a clubbing right to the ear that put Yarde down. He got up at eight but instead of coming forward, he stepped back into his corner, speaking to his trainer. The referee should have stopped it right then and there, but let Yarde continue. He took two more punches and his trainer got up on the ring apron and called a truce to the war. What a fight!

From press release: Beterbiev said afterwards, “Every fight is different. It’s a different preparation. And the fighter is different, too. I can’t say I did a very bad fight. But if I could do it again, I’d do it better. But I feel good. To be honest, I prepared for the all the punches he did. That’s why I could come back. It’s because we expected those punches. Everyone can punch hard at this level. And Anthony did, too. But he’s young. I turned into a professional when I was 28. He has time. I hope he does well in the future. I want [Dmitry] Bivol. Right now, it’s everything. In that fight, we’ll have four belts. It’s really good fight, I think.”