Kovalev to defend against Yarde Aug 24

No Canelo for Kovalev. Mandatory challenger Anthony Yarde (18-0, 17 KOs) will challenge long-standing world champion Kovalev for his WBO light heavyweight championship in Chelyabinsk, Russia on August 24. The fight will be broadcast live and exclusive in the UK on BT Sport and probably ESPN+ in the US. Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren made the announcement today.

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  • This could be an interesting fight…I don’t know if Yarde has really fought anybody yet. This very possibly could be one of those fights that who ever gets the first good punch in wins. KOvalev looked really good in his last fight but i’ve never seen Yarde fight.

    • yeah this is a real mystery fight. Yarde has looked promising for about 3 years now but has just not stepped up, so it is impossible to know how he will look at top level. i expect him to come up short but in reality he hasn’t struggled against anyone at all so far, so he could be good enough.

  • Kovalev has not been “The Krusher” since the Ward fights and is 3-3(2) in his last 6 fights. Yarde is the worst kind of opponent for him right now but he has a mandatory. Yarde is unproven at this point and this could end up like the first Alvarez fight with Sergei getting caught and not recovering.

  • I never thought for a second that Canelo would fight kovalev. it was all bluster from Golden boy to make it seem that Ginger stepping up to a challenge. As soon as duva told Gomez that there would not be a catchweight, they deliberately low-balled the offer, that they knew main events wouldn’t take, just to make headlines. Now that leaves Golovkin for September 14th, otherwise team Canelo is in violation of their agreement with DAZN.

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