1 The fight deserved more attention
Overshadowed sadly by Chris Eubank Jnr’s first stoppage defeat, and, on the night, the confirmation of a farce between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury, Beterbiev and Yarde had to go out and force people to take notice of them.
2 Yarde has improved since Kovalev defeat
It was hard to tell based on the opposition he had boxed since his 2019 loss to Sergey Kovalev, but there can be no arguing now: Yarde has come on leaps and bounds since then.
3 It’s the little things Beterbiev does well
As easy as it is to fall into the trap of thinking Beterbiev is all about fight-ending power, we must now start to appreciate the brilliance of his jab, his ring generalship, and his punch economy. This is no one-dimensional bruiser.
4 Ajayi’s stoppage was perfectly timed
For so long a much-maligned figure in British boxing, Yarde’s coach, Tunde Ajayi, had many eating humble pie on Saturday when he intervened to save his man, producing one of the best and most compassionate corner stoppages in Britain for some time.
5 The fight was close
Whether two of the three judges were right to have Yarde winning at the time of the stoppage is up for debate, but one thing is clear: the fight was close and competitive and Yarde was in with a chance of winning it.
Yarde and Beterbiev produced a light-heavyweight classic (James Chance/Getty Images)
6 Yarde never once tried to survive
So often we see British boxers fight the world’s elite and do all they can merely to survive and be able to say, “Well, at least I lasted the distance.” Yarde, though, to his immense credit, had no such thoughts.
7 Beterbiev’s power travels through a fight
Rather than just fear the Beterbiev power early and do all you can to avoid it in the opening rounds, the issue you have when facing the Russian is that he wins just as many of his fights late as he does early. He is dangerous, in other words, from round one to 12.
8 Nothing wrong with Yarde’s chin
Though effectively dropped by a stiff Kovalev jab in 2019, there is, make no mistake, nothing wrong with Yarde’s chin. Few, in fact, will be able to stand toe-to-toe the way he did with Beterbiev on Saturday.
9 Beterbiev is susceptible to a counter left hook
Yarde’s success with the counter left hook arrived as early round one and continued throughout the fight, too. It is a punch Beterbiev has had difficulty defending in the past as well.
10 Something had to give
Despite Yarde boxing out of his skin, there remained a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to maintain either his work-rate, which was unusually high, or continue taking Beterbiev’s punches in exchanges.