Anthony Yarde Next Fight: Where next for ‘Beast’ after third world title defeat?

Anthony Yarde suffered a brutal seventh-round TKO loss to David Benavidez on November 23. The WBC light heavyweight title scrap headlined Ring IV: Night of Champions in Riyadh. This was Yarde's third attempt to win a world title and the third time he has been stopped by a reigning champion. Is there anywhere left for 'The Beast from the East' to go?

Read on as we take a look at the options for Anthony Yarde’s next fight.

In another era, Yarde would likely have landed a world title at light heavyweight. The fractured post-Roy Jones Jr landscape of the mid-2000s perhaps. That period where Bernard Hopkins held The Ring title but the sanctioning body belts were scattered to the wind. Or maybe during the 2010s where, despite the dominance of some, you could still find the WBA and WBO belts being hot-potatoed around.

But the era where Yarde was just short of championship class was ultimately the one in which he competed. In which he still competes, officially. While the 34-year-old intends to fight on, one struggles to see a way back to title contention.

Yarde has come close to lifting one or more of the belts on two occasions. When he gave WBO champion of the day Sergey Kovalev all he could handle in 2019 and when he subjected Artur Beterbiev, the then-WBO and IBF boss, to a vicious challenge in 2023. Both fights portrayed Yarde as a fighter oh-so-close to the top. But each attempt ended with him knocked out.

WBC light heavyweight champion Benavidez did not suffer the scares of his big-punching predecessors. From early on on Saturday, November 22 it was clear that Yarde was looking for one big punch. The problem with that sort of strategy against ‘The Mexican Monster’ is the fact that Benavidez is an energetic volume-puncher. While Yarde was shaping up to change the fight with one big shot, Benavidez rearranged the challenger’s face into a gruesome red mask of painful anguish.

Yarde was finished inside the distance again, in the seventh round this time. The former Commonwealth champion insists he will go again. But where does Yarde go now?

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In the aftermath, Benavidez said he intends to move up to cruiserweight to face WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. That could lead to the Mexican-American vacating his title. But it is hard to foresee Yarde being installed as one of the challengers to fill the void given the one-sided nature of his loss.

The path to the division’s other titles is closed off largely due to the presence of Dmitry Bivol. The Russian holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and The Ring championships. He is the true, lineal king after winning his rematch with Beterbiev in February. 

Bivol was supposed to be engaging Beterbiev in a trilogy fight. That was the reason he gave for vacating the WBC belt rather than facing Benavidez. But Beterbiev then announced a bout with Deon Nicholson scheduled for the same card as Benavidez-Yarde. That fight fell through, which could possibly mean Bivol-Beterbiev III is back on.

Even if the all-Russian three-match does not happen, it is doubtful Bivol will fight Yarde any time soon. Why offer a title shot to a man who has lost three of them already? Who is a power puncher who could end your reign with one shot? High risk, low reward.

With the champions off the table, what is left for Yarde? The British light heavyweight scene is buoyant. Callum Smith, the former super middleweight kingpin, is the WBO interim champion. That would do rip-roaring business in the UK and offer Yarde an unlikely way back to the belts.

Joshua Buatsi is riding high after a tight win over Zach Parker. That one has been talked about extensively and would be another arena fight in Great Britain. Promotional stablemates Willy Hutchinson and Ezra Taylor provide world-ranked alternatives. 

Further afield, new Matchroom signing Ben Whittaker is rising fast. Or perhaps a European import like WBO number-15 Bilel Latreche. The Frenchman is 39 and has not fought in a year. If he could be tempted, Latreche could provide a great platform for Yarde’s re-emergence.

Ultimately, Yarde needs to have a deep think about how he wants the rest of his career to pan out. World title fights are never impossible, but a crack at Bivol feels highly unlikely. Yarde could fight big names in the UK or Riyadh and have a high-profile couple of years in the sport before he hangs up the gloves. But ‘The Beast from the East’ may have to come to terms with the fact that there are other ferocious animals in this yard.

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