Callum Johnson: Yarde has a chance, but he has to put on the best fight of his life

Callum Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs) had already hung up his gloves, but was the closest to defeating Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs), when he was able to send the Russian to the floor in the second round with a left hook in their fight in 2018, but then lost ahead of schedule in the fourth round. This weekend, the IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight champion will face Anthony Yardom (23-2, 22 KOs), mandatory contender for the WBO title.

“Beterbiev is a real beast who has no remorse in the ring. If he needs to hit the back of the head, he will hit. In a fight with him, you need to be tough all the time, keep him in suspense all the time, you can’t give up for a second. Because he will take advantage of your every weakness. However, Beterbiev can be defeated with his own weapons. You have to force him to back off, hit him hard and make him feel uncomfortable. I think that he can be defeated by someone who just hits hard and makes him back away. And Yarde can hit hard, so he has a chance."

“Yarde seems to have slightly faster hands, but Beterbiev compensates for this with excellent intuition, timing and experience. He has good defense and can box when needed. Yard has a bit of everything, he's a really good boxer, but he won't show Beterbiev what he hasn't seen yet and can't handle. On the other hand, the Russian is already 38 and at some point his age will overtake him. Will it happen now? To win, Yard must show his best fight in his life, and Beterbiev's age must make itself felt for the first time. Except that the last fight against Joe Smith did not show his age at all. He looked better than ever with one of the biggest wins of his career. Yard has a puncher's chance, but he should give the best fight of his life," Johnson added.