Fight Week: Can Artur Beterbiev keep KO streak alive against Anthony Yarde?

FIGHT WEEK

Unified 175-pound titleholder Artur Beterbiev will defend his belts and seek his 19^th knockout in as many fights against Anthony Yarde on Saturday in London (ESPN+).

ARTUR BETERBIEV (18-0, 18 KOS) VS. ANTHONY YARDE (23-2, 22 KOS)

• When: Saturday, Jan. 28
• Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
• Where: London
• TV/Stream: ESPN+
• Division: Light heavyweights (175 pounds)
• At stake: Beterbiev’s IBF, WBC and WBO titles
• Pound-for-pound ranking: Beterbiev No. 12
• Odds: Beterbiev 7-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
• Also on the card: Artem Dalakian vs. David Jimenez, flyweights (for Dalakian’s WBA title); Willy Hutchinson vs. Emil Markic, light heavyweights; Karol Itauma vs. Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna, light heavyweights
• Prediction: Beterbiev KO 8
• Background: Beterbiev and Yarde have knocked out a combined 40 of their 41 victims, a clear indication that both men have unusual punching power. The problem for Yarde could be that Beterbiev has been stopping a higher level of opposition. The 38-year-old Russian won his first title against Enrico Koelling in 2017 and has added two more belts since, all in a span of seven fights. The two-time Olympian is coming off a second-round knockout of Joe Smith Jr. in a title-unification showdown last June. Yarde, a 31-year-old Londoner, was outboxed and then stopped by then-beltholder Sergey Kovalev in his first title fight in 2019. He’s 6-1 since, including an upset split-decision setback against Lyndon Arthur in 2020. He avenged that loss by stopping Arthur in four rounds in their rematch the following year. He followed that with another stoppage of Stefani Koykov last November, his most-recent fight. The Beterbiev-Yarde fight was originally scheduled for October but was pushed back because the champion was injured.

ALEXIS ROCHA (21-1, 13 KOS) VS. ANTHONY YOUNG (24-2, 8 KOS)

• When: Saturday, Jan. 28
• Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
• Where: YouTube Theater, Inglewood, California
• TV/Stream: DAZN
• Division: Welterweight (147 pounds)
• At stake: No major titles
• Pound-for-pound ranking: None
• Odds: NA
• Also on the card: Floyd Schofield vs. Alberto Mercado, lightweights; Bektemir Melikuziev vs. Daniel Terry, super middleweights; Oscar Collazo vs. Yudel Reyes, strawweights
• Prediction: Rocha UD
• Background: Rocha has won five consecutive fights since he lost a unanimous decision to slick Rashidi Ellis in 2020, a streak that has lifted into the rankings of two of the four major sanctioning bodies. He’s the WBO’s No. 3 contender, behind only titleholder Terence Crawford, Vergil Ortiz and Keith Thurman. The 25-year-old boxer-puncher from Orange County, California, is coming off a near-shutout decision over Jesus Antonio Perez Campos last October. Young is a 34-year-old from Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose only notable victory – and only scheduled 10-rounder – was a third-round knockout of former titleholder Sadam Ali in 2019. Ali hasn’t fought since. Young has won his last 13 fights, including a unanimous decision over Jose Zaragoza in an eight-rounder in October.

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

WEDNESDAY

• Cesar Francis vs. Jesus Sarocho, junior welterweights, Plant City, Florida (ProBox).

FRIDAY

• Serhii Bohachuk vs. Nathaniel Gallimore, junior middleweights, Montebello, California (UFC Fight Pass).