Artur Beterbiev defeats Anthony Yarde in deadly eight-round battle to defend light-heavyweight titles | boxing news

Artur Beterbiev defended his unified WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight titles with an eight-round victory over Anthony Yarde at Wembley Arena in London.

This world title fight was a formidable and deadly battle.

Boxing in his hometown, the challenger started out brilliantly, shifting lightly to his feet as he looked to catch Beterbiev with his left hook and sometimes the hard right.

The champion was aggressive throughout, walking and looking to land some big punches. But Yarde disrupted it, landing repeatedly as Beterbiev showed up.

Yarde was fighting hard, imposing a rhythm. He opened up in round two and surged forward with a nice right uppercut.

Right at the end of the third round, Beterbiev hurt Yarde with a left hook. The champ felt his edge and threw some solid punches in the fourth.

But just when it looked like Yarde was in trouble in round five, he pulled through. A big right forces Beterbiev to hold on for a while.

The 38-year-old champion started to look tired and got cut.

Yarde landed a ferocious left hook and hit his right, connecting with explosive force. But Beterbiev pushed him away, trapped him on the ropes and sent vicious combinations through his body.

In the eighth round, Beterbiev found the knockouts. He knocked out Yarde with a short right and put him down with a hook. Yarde got up but was seriously injured and the referee stepped in to end it at 2:01.

Exciting heavyweight prospect Moses Itaumaworld and European youth champion as an amateur, made his professional debut on the undercard.

The left-hander made short work of it Marcel Bodestopping him in 23 seconds after he lined up two heavy left crosses to blast the Czech off his feet.

Previously starring, his older brother Karol Itauma suffered a shock upset loss. argentina Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna tagged the young southpaw with straight rights before finally dropping him with a brutal cross in the fifth round.

He left Itauma on the canvas and he was counted out at 1:04.

Artem Dalakian remained undefeated as he defended his WBA world flyweight title with a unanimous decision win over a previously undefeated challenger David Jimenez.