Anthony Yarde Improves to 20-1 With His 19th KO

In August of last year, Anthony Yarde went into Sergey Kovalev’s backyard in Chelyabinsk, Russia, and almost left with Kovalev’s WBO light heavyweight title belt. He hurt Kovalev in the eighth round, but couldn’t sustain the momentum and suffered his first pro loss, losing by TKO in the 11^th.

Today Yarde was back in the ring in his second start since that mishap. The venue was a BT Sport studio inside venerated York Hall and the man in the opposite corner was countryman Dec Spelman who held his own for the first five rounds.

In the sixth, Yarde rocked Spelman with several hard punches, the last of which knocked Spelman to his knees, whereupon the referee called it off. Spelman protested the stoppage which did seem a bit premature. The official time was 2:42.

Yarde, who has had a rough year – he lost his father and grandmother to the coronavirus — improved to 20-1 with his 19^th win by stoppage. Spelman, who hadn’t previously been stopped, falls to 16-5.

When Yarde fought Kovalev, he was stepping up too far, too soon. He was undefeated but only nine of his 18 wins had come against opponents with winning records. He had answered the bell for only 51 rounds as a pro and had turned pro after only 12 amateur fights. He ended the bout flat on his back, but by then he was out of gas and ready to drop at the slightest provocation.

Yarde’s next fight is expected to come against Commonwealth champion Lyndon Arthur (17-0, 12 KOs) who was extended 12 rounds by Spelman.

Yarde won’t lack for confidence.

Looking ahead to today’s contest with Spelman, Yarde said, “This will be all about me reminding people that I can be the force of the division and I am heading right back to the top where I intend to dominate and reign for a long time to come.”

Other Bouts of Note

The chief undercard fight was a 10-round middleweight contest between Mark Heffron and Denzel Bentley. This was a “pick-‘em” fight at many UK bet shops and the odds were prophetic as the contest ended in a draw. All three judges had it 95-95.

Bentley (13-0-1, 11 KOs) knocked down Heffron (25-1-1, 19 KOs) in the second round with a straight left but Heffron wasn’t intimidated and assumed the role of the aggressor for most of the rest of the fight. The contest was framed as an eliminator with the winner advancing to a bout with British title-holder Liam Williams who saddled Heffron with his lone defeat.

Botswana-born Ekow Essuman improved to 14-0 (5) with a 10-round unanimous decision over limited but durable Cedric Peynaud (8-8-3), a 34-year old Frenchman. The scores were 100-90, 98-92, and 98-93. This was Essuman’s first outing for Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.

Also, Joshua Frankham won his pro debut with a one-sided, four-round decision over Kevin McCauley. The 40-year-old McCauley is Great Britain’s most accomplished professional loser. He brought a record of 15-207-12 and had lost 34 straight. We wouldn’t even mention this fight save for the fact that Frankham, a middleweight, is Tyson Fury’s cousin.

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