BETERBIEV SHRUGS OFF YARDE’S USYK ASSISTANCE
ARTUR BETERBIEV OFFERED up a nonchalant response when questioned over his former amateur rival providing some words of advice to his forthcoming opponent Anthony Yarde ahead of the world light heavyweight title clash at the OVO Arena, Wembley on January 28.
British challenger Yarde was perched next to the unified heavyweight champion Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December while Tyson Fury was quashing the threat of his old rival Derek Chisora.
He claimed the Ukrainian gave him some tips on how to go about taking on the formidable Canadian-based Russian.
Beterbiev was edged out by Usyk at both the 2011 World Championship and the 2012 London Olympics.
“I don’t know,” said the 37-year-old Beterbiev with a chuckle when asked if a few pearls of wisdom from Usyk would help Yarde in his quest to part him from the WBC, WBO and IBF world title belts.
“If it helps him, then good for him. What can Usyk give him?”
It was suggested that Usyk could impart the benefit of experience from fighting him.
“And?” said a still smiling Beterbiev, who was a little bit more forthcoming when it came to explaining why, when he stepped up to light heavyweight, Canelo Alvarez opted to challenge Dmitrii Bivol for one world title belt, rather than himself for two, at the time.
“Why do you think? You need to ask Canelo, not me. How can I answer this one? If it was a fight that came to me I would take it, but I am not dreaming about this fight.”
Artur Beterbiev v Anthony Yarde for the WBC, WBO and IBF world light heavyweight titles takes place at the OVO Arena, Wembley on January 28, live on BT Sport. The bumper card also features the WBA world flyweight title fight between unbeaten fighters Artem Dalakian v David Jiminez.
Willy Hutchinson and Karol Itauma fight for the WBO Intercontinental and WBC International light heavyweight titles respectively, with the show also featuring top prospects Charles Frankham, Umar Khan, Sean Noakes, Joshua Frankham, Khalid Ali and Tommy Fletcher.
The show also features the highly-anticipated professional debut of World Youth Champion Moses Itama.
Tickets for Beterbiev vs Yarde are priced from £50 and are available from AXS.com and Ticketmaster.co.uk.