Artur Beterbiev Doesn’t Care He’s Going Into Enemy Territory To Fight Anthony Yarde

Artur Beterbiev isn’t fazed by having to go to London, England to face the local Anthony Yarde.

The WBC, WBO, and IBF light heavyweight champion from Russia is set to take on Yarde in a highly-anticipated bout on January 28. Although Beterbiev has to go into enemy territory, he says the location doesn’t matter, instead, the focus has always been on the opponent rather than the location.

“I’m not focused on the city,” Beterbiev told BT Sport. “I’m not like this person [who is obsessed with location]: London, New York, Moscow, I’m not focused on (the) city. I’m more focused on (the) opponent.”

As Beterbiev says, the location has never mattered to him which is the truth. In his last five fights he has fought in New York, Montreal, Moscow, Philadelphia, and Stockton as he goes wherever.

Along with not caring about the location, Artur Beterbiev says he doesn’t care about getting the knockout either. Instead, for him, the goal is to show how good of a technical boxer he is and get the win whether it is by stoppage or a decision.

“I never think of knockout,” Beterbiev said. “I only think about [being a] good boxer, to show good boxing. Box is my work. If some people like how I do my work, then I’m double-timed happy.”

Artur Beterbiev (18-0) is coming off a TKO win over Joe Smith Jr., while in his career the Russian holds notable wins over Marcus Browne, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and Callum Johnson among others.

Anthony Yarde (23-2), meanwhile, extended his win streak to three last time out with a KO win over Stefan Koykov. The Brit’s two losses came to Sergey Kovalev in 2019 for the WBO light heavyweight title, and a split decision loss to Lyndon Arthur. In his career, he holds notable wins over Lyndon Arthur, Nikola Sjekloca, and Dariusz Sek among others.

Who do you think will win, Artur Beterbiev or Anthony Yarde?