David Benavidez says his goal is to do a better job beating Anthony Yarde than former light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Sergey Kovalev did when they defeated him. \u2018The Mexican Monster\u2019 sounds insecure with his need to one-up what those two talents did against Yarde.<\/p>\n
Benavidez Chasing Validation<\/p>\n
Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) is defending his WBC 175-lb title against Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) this Saturday, November 22nd, on Ring IV at the ANB Arena in Riyadh.<\/p>\n
Beterbiev knocked out Yarde in the eighth round on January 28th, 2023. He was ahead on two of the scorecards when Beterbiev knocked him out in round eight. Yarde hurt Beterbiev at one point in that fight. Kovalev knocked out Yarde in the 11th round on August 24, 2019. That was a situation in which Yarde gassed out late and was stopped by a hard jab from Kovalev.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I prepared so hard for this fight, because in his head, he\u2019s probably thinking this is his last opportunity. So, he\u2019ll be very dangerous,\u201d said David Benavidez to the Daily Mail Boxing<\/a> about Anthony Yarde.<\/p>\n Yarde Isn\u2019t a Soft Target<\/p>\n Anthony always gives his best in fights. It has nothing to do with this being potentially his last chance. Yarde will be coming to like always and will be trying to knock out Benavidez. If \u2018The Mexican Monster\u2019 isn\u2019t at his best in this fight, he could be the one losing on Saturday night in their headliner.<\/p>\n Benavidez says he\u2019s going to be more defensively-minded in this fight. However, it\u2019s going to be hard for him to do that if he wants to get Yarde out faster than Beterbiev and Kovalev did. He won\u2019t be able to outdo those two fighters\u2019 performances if he fights defensively, trying to turn over a new leaf.<\/p>\n Obviously, Benavidez is starting to realize that he won\u2019t be able to continue fighting the way he used to when he was still campaigning at 168. He doesn\u2019t have the power in his punches at 175, and he\u2019s taking a lot of punishment against the more powerful punchers in the light heavyweight division.<\/p>\n A Shootout Benavidez Can\u2019t Control<\/p>\n \u201cSo, this is probably going to be the best Anthony Yarde we\u2019ve ever seen. So, I have to be prepared for something like that; my defense has to be on point. My power has got to be on point, and I\u2019ve got to take control of the fight early on,\u201d said Benavidez.<\/p>\n If Benavidez is going to \u201ctake control\u201d early on, it means he\u2019s going to be going to war with Yarde. There\u2019s no chance that he can dominate a puncher like Yarde right off the bat without trading with him and taking massive shots. It\u2019s going to be interesting to see how well Benavidez stands up to Yarde\u2019s shots in the first four rounds. He was hurt by David Morrell in the second round of their fight earlier this year on February 1st. Yarde is just as good a puncher as the Cuban Morrell, and he\u2019s going to be bringing fire from the get-go.<\/p>\n Insecurity in the Air<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you see Anthony Yarde, when he gets a hot streak, he gets a lot of confidence. He has good skills. He has a good left hook, and he has good defense. Also, by saying that, I want to show what level I\u2019m on,\u201d said Benavidez.<\/p>\n Beterbiev Set the Bar High<\/p>\n Yarde looked dangerous even when he was getting overwhelmed with punches in his loss to Beterbiev. He was catching Artur with left hooks that were stunning him. If not for Beterbiev having such a good chin, Yarde would have pulled off an upset in that fight because he had him hurt.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw him give a great fight to Kovalev. He gave a great fight to Artur Beterbiev. So, I kind of want to show I\u2019m a great fighter too, and I want to do even better than Beterbiev and Kovalev,\u201d said Benavidez.<\/p>\n Robert Segal has been a key voice at Boxing News 24, delivering fight news, previews, and analysis with a direct, insider edge. Covering the sport for over a decade, his work highlights champions, contenders, and rising talent worldwide. Known for his sharp ringside perspective, Robert brings fans closer to the action with straightforward, knowledgeable reporting.<\/p>\n Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb – An Analyst’s Perspective<\/a> \u00bb Benavidez Sounds Desperate Chasing a Better Yarde KO Than Beterbiev & Kovalev \u2014 and That Insecurity Could Get Him Sparked<\/p>\n Last Updated on 11\/18\/2025 \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Benavidez says his goal is to do a better job beating Anthony Yarde than former light heavyweight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-269631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}