Artur Beterbiev STOPS Anthony Yarde in the eighth round despite a magnificent effort from the British challenger in an incredible fight

Artur Beterbiev stopped Anthony Yarde in the eighth round of a stunning fight on Saturday night in London.

The British challenger delivered a stunning effort in a brutal battle, but the Russian-Canadian champion ultimately proved too strong for him.

The fight began with an aggressive start from Beterbiev as he chased Yarde around the ring.

The challenger was happy to box on the back foot and countered well with some notable left hooks early on.

The champion responded with his own hard hooks near the end of the first round.

In the second, a similar pattern emerged when Yarde succeeded with counter left hooks when the reckless Beterbiev launched his attacks.

The Russian-Canadian was unbothered, however, and kept pushing forward, happy to take punches to land them.

Beterbiev then cornered Yarde and a firefight briefly broke out with the two men exchanging heavy artillery.

The Briton’s uppercuts caught the eye amid the thrilling back-and-forth action.

In round three, Yarde stood in the middle of the ring, gaining confidence in his battle with Beterbiev.

But the champion landed a huge left hook that seemed to stun the challenger as the bell rang.

Early in the fourth, Beterbiev was looking to capitalize and hammered Yarde with a series of big hooks that hurt him.

The Briton was roared by his home crowd and remained on their feet, weathering the storm.

In the fifth round, the rhythm of the fight seemed to get to both men and Yarde looked particularly tired.

Despite this, he caught Beterbiev’s attention with a fierce counter that momentarily put him on the back foot.

Incredibly, Yarde then hammered Beterbiev with a massive right hand and staggered the champ.

This time it was he who weathered the storm and then turned it around by cornering Yarde and crushing him with a huge uppercut.

The bell rang to end the first round contestant of the year.

Beterbiev picked up where he left off and slashed Yarde’s right eye with a big forehand early in the sixth.

Again though, the Brit refused to wither and the pair continued to trade as they reached the halfway point.

In round seven, Yarde started on the front foot and clipped Beterbiev above his left eye.

The champion’s pace seemed to have seriously slowed as the challenger remarkably continued to come.

But all of a sudden, Beterbiev came out of his shell and launched another assault on Yarde, hurting him again against the ropes.

The bell was a relief for both men.

In the eighth, Beterbiev made the difference with a sensational strike that staggered Yarde.

The champion followed up with a series of blows that took down the challenger.

Yarde beat the count and tried to keep fighting but was at the end of another assault from Beterbiev and his trainer jumped onto the ring apron to stop the fight.

Beterbiev is now 19-0 with 19 knockouts, retaining his WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight world titles.