David Benavidez’s next opponent was moments away from glory until a brutal KO crushed his rise in 2019

Anthony Yarde came close to beating Sergey Kovalev before disaster struck

In 2019, Yarde faced Sergey Kovalev for the WBO Light-heavyweight world title.

Kovalev was 33-3-1 at the time, whilst Yarde was 18-0. The Brit stepped in the ring in Kovalev’s home country of Russia.

Kovalev picked up round after round, but it was in the eighth where Yarde found his shot at greatness and made his bid for glory.

Yarde sustained an attack on Kovalev in the eighth, pushing him to the brink and almost forcing a stoppage. The champion rallied to stay in the fight, and made it to the bell, in which his trainer, Buddy McGirt, told him that if he took that kind of punishment again, then he would call off the fight.

Kovalev listened to his trainer, and evaded such punishment for the next few rounds before delivering a bizarre knockout as Kovalev stopped Yarde with a jab in the eleventh.

Yarde’s dreams of the world title were dashed, and he wouldn’t see another title chance for four more years.

In 2023, Yarde faced Artur Beterbiev, and was actually up on the scorecards going into the eighth round, however, Beterbiev proved to be too much for him, and stopped Yarde that round.

Yarde has faced no one of note aside from the three men that beat him – Kovalev, Beterbiev, and Arthur (who he has since beaten twice), and seems to be a very clear underdog against Benavidez.

Anthony Yarde vs David Benavidez – The stats

With the fight coming in a matter of months, let’s take a look at how both men compare.