Artur Beterbiev set to be ordered to fight Callum Smith after stopping Anthony Yarde in thriller
Artur Beterbiev will next be ordered to fight Callum Smith, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has previously confirmed.
The WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight world champion retained his belts with a stunning stoppage win over Anthony Yarde on Saturday night in London.
The brutal battle began with an aggressive start from Beterbiev as he chased Yarde around the ring.
However, the challenger was smart with his counters and tied the champion.
Beterbiev injured Yarde in round four, but the Briton weathered the storm before battling to injure the Russian-Canadian in a sensational fifth round.
Both men cut each other in the following rounds and continued to exchange heavy artillery.
In the end though, Beterbiev made the difference with a big eighth-round shot that knocked Yarde down and saw him knocked down.
He beat the count and tried to keep fighting, but was at the end of another assault, so his trainer jumped onto the ring apron to stop the fight.
At the WBC convention in November, the subject of Beterbiev was brought up and clarified by the WBC chairman.
“I can guarantee the WBC board was reviewed on Sunday – Callum Smith is the mandatory,” Sulaiman told a Matchroom rep.
“He’s allowed to do an interim fight because Beterbiev is going to make the WBO mandatory. The winner must fight Callum Smith.
“Smith is cleared to fight. However, if he loses this fight, he will lose his mandatory challenger position.
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