Anthony set to make the hard Yardes
ANTHONY YARDE will be ready to take the world by storm in 2019.
The light-heavyweight’s career has been a whirlwind so far, with the Hackney-born star rising quickly through the ranks.
That’s thanks to his spectacular knockout ratio, with 15 of his 16 opponents not lasting the distance.
But that has also made it hard for us to get people in the ring with him at the level he needs.
Yarde, 27, had only 12 amateur bouts and so is learning on the job all the time.
We want to make sure that when he steps up to world level, he will be ready to win titles and not be just a challenger fed to the champion.
That is happening too often these days, with British fighters going to America and coming up short.
Yarde (below) faces Walter Gabriel Sequeira tonight in Brentwood, with the Argentine one of the few willing to step up and not make silly demands to face our rising star.
But for his next fight he will be facing a foe ranked high in the global rankings as we get him in position for a world title shot next year. It’s an exciting card tonight on BT Sport, with heavyweight hope Nathan Gorman in action too.
I’ve been really impressed with how the Cheshire-born fighter has been progressing under trainer Ricky Hatton.
Gorman has shifted some weight but also shown improvements in the ring with some impressive displays.
Daniel Dubois is our other heavyweight prospect and that would be a big fight down the line for the pair of them.
It’s certainly an exciting time to be a young British heavyweight, that is for sure.
Looking back on last weekend’s action, Terence Crawford proved yet again what I’ve been repeatedly saying in this column – he is the best American fighter at the moment.
WBO welterweight king Crawford took apart Jose Benavidez but didn’t just coast the last round to claim his points win – he went for the finish and he got it in stunning style.
Watch Yarde v Sequeira live and exclusive on BT Sport from 8.30pm.