Benavidez Will Break Down Yarde

Coach Stephen Edwards is predicting victory for WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez against the overmuscled, stamina-plagued Anthony Yarde in their main event fight on November 22nd in Riyadh.

Edwards notes that Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) is “good” early on in fights when he’s fresh, but then fades in the later rounds. We saw that in his losses to Artur Beterbiev in 2023 and Sergey Kovalev in 2019.

The “Spent Bullet” Warning

“I think Benavidez is a little too strong down the stretch. Yarde is a bit of a spent bullet,” said coach Stephen Edwards to MillCity Boxing, picking David Benavidez to defeat Anthony Yarde on November 22nd. “He’s good in the early rounds, but he fades. He’s got the heavy muscles.”

Benavidez is a “little too strong” all the time, not just “down the stretch.” He’s going to be lighting up Yarde early with his machine gun shots, and it won’t be a shock to see him end this fight as early as the fourth. Yarde is too slow and looks like a typical weight lifter.

No Shoulder Roll Escape

“I don’t know if he can fight Benavidez with that shoulder roll. He’s going to beat Yarde. I think he beats Beterbiev and Bivol. Benavidez is the real deal. His defense is better than people think it is, and his jab and IQ are better. He never allows the other guy to get too much momentum in a fight,” said Edwards.

Eddy Pronishev’s Final Take: Benavidez Breaks Bodybuilders

Benavidez’s high-volume output is going to wear down the bodybuilder Yarde fast on November 22nd. This is going to be like watching a battery drain down, and I see this ending badly for Yarde.

He should have trimmed down for this fight to lose some of that useless muscle that he carries around. But in the last photo of him, he looked like he was ready to enter the Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition and take the trophy.

This fight should be the first on the card, not the last. It would be better for the fans to have a good memory of the event. The last fight is the most important for that purpose.