Yarde inches to top

PAGES OF FANTASTIC ANT TO WAIT FOR TITLE TILT START WITH BOXING

ANTHONY YARDE fears no man as he targets a date with WBO light-heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.

But the Hackney-born boxer won’t be rushed to world level until he feels like he can dominate the division.

Yarde, 27, is 17-0 as a pro with 16 stoppages ahead of next Friday’s WBO Inter-Continental title defence with American Travis Reeves at Royal Albert Hall.

The Londoner is already ranked No. 1 with the WBO and next in line for a crack at Russian bruiser Kovalev.

But, with just 12 amateur bouts behind him, he won’t face Kovalev until he is sure he can stay at the top if he beats him.

Yarde said: “Would I fight Kovalev now? Definitely. I’m a boxer. There is nobody on this planet that I fear.

“Anyone who gets in the ring with me, I have the capabilities of knocking them out.

The only thing I feel I need to be ready for is to be fighting at that level for the rest of my career. I understand what my management team are saying when they say when the time for me to be fighting at world level.

“If you consider it, I’ve been fantastic in all my fights, but to be fighting at world level for the rest of my career, there is time for that. “I’ve still got a lot to learn. There’s no rush. When the time does come, I will continue to do what I’m doing.

“Each level I step up I need to stay as dominant at that level.”

The light-heavyweight division in Britain has a number of decent foes including world title challenger Callum Johnson and Hosea Burton.

But the fight that could be a potential box-office smash is Yarde against Olympic bronze medallist Joshua Buatsi. Yarde added: “The more the fight builds, the bigger and better it will be for us and the fans. We are both in our prime, it’s not like we are old at the end of our careers.

“If he continues to do his job, I’m definitely going to do my job, then that fight will happen in the near future. It won’t be in four or five years, it will be sooner and will be a massive fight.”