Artur Beterbiev told Anthony Yarde he didn’t expect such a tough fight as the scorecards show the Brit was winning at the time of the stoppage.

Anthony Yarde surprised Artur Beterbiev on Saturday night with his efforts and the Briton even won the fight at the time of the stoppage.

The pair engaged in a contender of the year bout at Wembley Arena as they walked back and forth through crushing shots that no doubt could have knocked out any other fighter in the lineup. light heavyweight division.

Somehow, despite the brutality of both men’s attacks, the fight made it to the eighth round, when Yarde’s trainer, Tunde Ajayi, saw enough and decided to save his fighter from a new punishment by stopping the contest.

Interestingly, at the time of the stoppage, Yarde was winning on two of the three judges’ scorecards, with one judge placing the Briton by three rounds.

It demonstrates Yarde’s ability to compete against world class fighters and he certainly impressed Beterbiev.

“I had some great times, I could have won that fight and changed my life forever,” Yarde told talkSPORT.

“I changed my life anyway, but I could have had this celebration I had in mind.

“I didn’t go there and embarrass myself, I get a lot of credit for doing that to someone like Beterbiev.

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“So I think it’s a win-win for me.”

Yarde then revealed what Beterbiev told him after the fight, saying, “There’s a lot of respect.

“He just said, ‘Nobody gave me that test as a professional.’

“So there is a lot of respect there. They said they had prepared for me, but they didn’t know what to expect.

“They knew I was hungry, but they didn’t expect such a tough fight.

“But he said he turned pro at 28 and I’m 31 now, so I have time.”

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