MADE-FOR-TV Anthony Yarde will keep his reinvigorated world title aspirations on track with a trademark flamboyant finish when boxing heads back to the BT Sport Studios this weekend.
Scunthorpe’s Dec Spelman has a good history of going the distance with the best of Britain’s domestic light heavies. But Yarde proved he belongs at world class last summer – he moves far too quick and hits far too hard for this one to go the distance.
The 29-year-old came agonisingly close to winning the WBO world title last August, when he had Sergey Kovalev rocking in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, only to run out of gas in the championship rounds and suffer the first loss of his professional career.
Yarde hit back at the start of the year – just days before the Covid-19 lockdown – with a swift second round TKO in Spain to put him back in line for the recently vacated WBO belt and moved his record to 19-1, with 18 finishes.
Yarde to win by KO, TKO, or DQ – 11/50
Anthony Yarde eats body blows like they’re nothing
( : MrAnthonyYarde/IG) pic.twitter.com/UAffUFZodi
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) September 6, 2020
But the pandemic then brought tragedy to his door. Yarde lost both his father and grandmother to coronavirus inside a week back in March–April. “They passed three days apart,” Yarde said in an interview with BT. “It was a very bad situation for everyone really.
“It’s been a rollercoaster to be honest. But I see it as another opportunity to strengthen myself mentally and physically. One thing that lockdown has taught me is that tomorrow is not promised.”
As one of the key players in Frank Warren and BT Sport’s boxing alliance, Yarde has options. Manchester’s Commonwealth champion Lyndon Arthur was made but then TKO’d due to the lockdown, while New Yorker Joe Smith Jr seems an obvious opponent for that vacated WBO world title. But Yarde has a job to do first.
Spellman has proven in the past he’s got a solid chin. In four career defeats – set against 16 wins – he’s shown time and again that he knows how to survive in a crisis. He’s been dropped numerous times throughout his career, been cut too, yet he’s never been stopped.
In the last 12 months, Spelman has fought 22 rounds against two of the domestic division’s brightest unbeaten operators in Shakan Pitters and Arthur, giving a good account of himself on both occasions.
But with 18 knockouts in 19 wins, Yarde carries a very different kind of power than what Spelman has encountered before. ‘The Beast’ sets a strong pace, wastes very little, and stalks his opponents with deadly accuracy. He’s as cool, calm and collected inside the ropes as he is on the outside, and that spells disaster for Spelman.
Look for Yarde to get this done in around six to eight rounds, and don’t be surprised if the finish comes via the Spelman corner throwing in the towel.
Bout odds: Yarde (1/40) Draw (33/1) Spelman (11/1)
Tip: Yarde to win in Round 6 (8/1) Round 7 (10/1) Round 8 (14/1)
Get a little more value for money on a Yarde TKO by making it a treble courtesy of a couple of likely more competitive fights on Saturday’s card. In the night’s other two 10-rounders, unbeaten middleweight Denzel Bentley (17/10) takes a massive step up against Oldham’s favourable Mark Heffron (19/20), while Nottingham’s Ekow Essuman (11/50) can make a statement at welterweight against familiar Frenchman Cedrick Peynaud (33/10).
Treble odds: Yarde TKO, Heffron and Essuman (7/4)
