David “The Mexican Monster” Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) is set to face Britain’s Anthony “The Beast from the East” Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) on Saturday, November 22nd, at Riyadh’s ANB Arena. The bout will headline the Riyadh Season card “Ring IV – Night of Champions,” a stacked event bringing multiple world title fights under one roof. Benavidez (pictured) is the WBC light heavyweight champion and also holds the WBA regular title, beneath the WBA super championship of Dmitry Bivol, generally considered the division's true world champion. Now age 28, Benavdez made the jump to light heavyweight after twice reigning as the WBC super middleweight champion. He turned back top contenders like Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade. In his 175-pound debut, he outgunned Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and then David Morrell, proving that his trademark pressure and high-octane punch output translate seamlessly to a heavier division. Now holding the WBA world title, he looks to cement himself as the man to beat — and potentially pave the road toward a blockbuster fight with former champion Artur Beterbiev or Bivol.
Yarde, age 34, enters the fight with the bitter experience of two previous failed world title attempts — a dramatic knockout loss to Sergey Kovalev in 2019 and a war with Beterbiev in 2023 that ended in the eighth round. With 24 knockouts in 27 wins, the Londoner remains one of the most dangerous mid-range punchers in the division. His mission will be to stamp his authority early and capitalize on any lapse from the champion as he seeks a monumental upset on neutral ground.
Coming in, Benavidez rides the momentum of a commanding unanimous decision over Morrell in February 2025 in Las Vegas, his second outing at light heavyweight. Before that, he had closed his super middleweight chapter in dominant fashion — a TKO over Andrade in November 2023 and a points win over Caleb Plant in March of the same year.
Yarde, meanwhile, is fresh off a unanimous decision over Lyndon Arthur this past April, though his last major world title appearance remains the hard-fought 2023 battle with Beterbiev — a brutal contest that showcased his firepower but also exposed defensive vulnerabilities against elite opposition.
Benavidez vs. Yarde promises fireworks: the champion aims to drown Yarde under relentless pressure and volume, while the challenger will look for that one fight-changing shot that could flip the script. The winner stands to reshape the immediate future of the light heavyweight landscape — and possibly set the stage for a historic unification.
