YARDE PROMISES NOT TO RAIN IT IN
Grief-hit fighter ready now
ANTHONY YARDE has vowed to show his true self tonight in his rematch against Lyndon Arthur.
Yarde says he was below his best when he surprisingly lost on a split decision to Arthur a year ago – only his second professional defeat.
The former light-heavyweight world title challenger was still suffering from losing his dad and three grandparents to coronavirus.
Yarde says he is better emotionally now, and that Arthur will face a different fighter at London’s Copper Box when they clash for the WBO Intercontinental and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles.
“When I watched the fight back, I was looking at myself and I was shaking my head thinking, ‘This is s***’,” said the Ilford fighter.
“I kept saying over and over again, ‘What was I doing?’
“But I was going through a lot. My mind was not in boxing at all because of everything that happened to my family. Listening, people will probably understand that. But I’m a person who doesn’t make excuses and it’s all about Saturday.
“Everyone knows what I’m capable of and you will see a better version of me on Saturday.”
Yarde tried to shut out his grief by throwing himself into his training for the first fight, but sadness still caught up with him and he says he had no energy.
The 30-year-old knows he let Arthur dictate the fight behind his jab and he brought in former European super-middleweight champion James Cook to assist his trainer Tunde Ajayi in camp.
Yarde’s game plan is to be more aggressive against the “boring” Arthur and he has vowed to “rain down punches” on the Mancunian.
“Anyone who watched the first fight, would agree it was s***,” he said. “There’s no disrespect when I say Lyndon is a boring fighter because sometimes boxing ain’t entertaining.
“I’m not going to take anything away from Lyndon because he did his job, he stayed on the back foot, popped the jab, didn’t engage.
“But I like to entertain the crowd. Everyone was waiting for me to put my foot on the gas and it was bad decision-making by me.
“Then you saw it in the last round, when I went for it, it was a completely different fight.
“This time, my punches will start raining and you can’t stop the rain. If I let my hands go, I don’t need to say anything.
“It’s not even a question of if because there will be a time when I let my hands go.
“My mind is clear for this fight, you can see it. I can feel it.”
Arthur v Yarde is live and exclusive on BT Sport 1 HD and BT Sport Ultimate from 7.30pm.
LEWIS HAMILTON is hoping his “spicy” engine helps him keep the heat on world title rival Max Verstappen.
The seven-time world champion cannot afford a slip-up in the penultimate race of the season, with Verstappen holding an eight-point lead in the drivers’ championship.
Verstappen can clinch the title tomorrow in Saudi Arabia but, if Hamilton finishes fifth or better, the two dominant forces on the grid will lock horns in a final-race showdown in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
Hamilton has won the past two races, including Brazil last month when he started from the back of the grid after changing his power unit.
His fifth new engine of the season – only three can be used per year without incurring a penalty – turned the tide in his favour but it was not used two weeks ago in Qatar, when he again dominated the race.
His Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: “Saudi should be a good track for us but we know this year, when you think it’s a good one, it can turn the other way around.
“But it’s a long straight, we’ll get our spicy equipment out for Saudi Arabia that we didn’t use [in Qatar].”
Hamilton is chasing his 103rd grand prix win and he made a good start, posting the fastest time in first practice as the drivers got a feel for new Jeddah Corniche Circuit yesterday. Hamilton set the pace ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas as they completed a one-two for Mercedes on the opening day of practice, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc walked away from a heavy crash.
The 36-year-old Briton went even quicker at night under the floodlights, lowering his benchmark to one minute 29.018 seconds. Bottas was 0.061sec behind while Dutchman Verstappen dropped behind AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly to fourth, 0.195 seconds slower than his Mercedes rival. The top three were separated by less than 0.1sec. The opening hour went off without incident but the pitfalls of the Jeddah street track were highlighted during the second session. Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari at high speed on the approach to the fast Turn 22-23 chicane, crashing backwards into the barriers. “Sorry guys,” said the Monaco driver to his team.
The incident brought a halt to the session five minutes before it was officially scheduled to end. A minute’s silence followed by applause to mark the passing of former owner and team principal Sir Frank Williams will be held 70 minutes before tomorrow’s grand prix.