Benavidez Faces Yarde After Grueling Morrell War

David Benavidez says he wants a war in his defense of his WBC light heavyweight title against the #4-ranked Anthony Yarde on November 22 in their headliner at the ANB Arena in Riyadh. The event will be shown on DAZN PPV.

Coming Off the Brutal Morrell Fight

Benavidez (30, 24 KOs) is facing another big puncher after his recent grueling 12-round battle against David Morrell on March 1, 2025. ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez was staggered in the fourth and knocked down in the 11th.

Benavidez came through it with a 12-round unanimous decision, but his face looked like someone who had come off a battlefield. The Cuban Morrell really put him through a grinder with some of the bombs he hit him with.

Coming back from that to take on Yarde (37-3, 24 KOs) won’t be easy. I won’t be surprised if Benavidez is dropped once or twice by Yarde if he chooses to go toe-to-toe with him early the way he did with Morrell.

Stacked Undercard

• Brian Norman Jr. vs. Devin Haney: Co-feature
• Abdullah Mason vs. Sam Noakes
• Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs. Fernando Daniel Martinez
• Artur Beterbiev vs. Deon Nicholson

Yarde’s History Against Elite Fighters

“I definitely expect a big action fight. Anthony Yarde is a fighter who has been in there with two of the best Russian fighters, Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev,” said David Benavidez to Ring Magazine about his title defense against Anthony Yarde on November 22.

Beterbiev and Kovalev knocked out Yarde in those fights. It’s impossible to know if Yarde has improved since those fights because he hasn’t beaten anyone notable in his last four fights.

A Questionable Path to a Title Shot

Yarde has spent two years rebuilding, albeit against mostly lower-level opposition. He’s getting a shot anyway, whether he deserves it or not. Turki Alalshikh announced the Benavidez-Yarde fight, so it makes sense that he wanted this fight.

Yarde’s Recent Fights

• Lyndon Arthur
• Ralfs Vilcans
• Marko Nikolic
• Jorge Silva: 23-17 record.

Choosing Yarde will engage the UK fans, who are familiar with him and will tune in to see if he can pull off an upset against Benavidez.

Benavidez Demands an All-Out War

“I accept, and I invite war. So if that’s what the people in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia want, then let’s give it to them,” said Benavidez.

‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez is going to have no other choice but to go to war with Yarde because that’s the only way he fights. The London-born Yarde is a brawler, and I don’t expect him to change his style for this fight, if it’s even possible.

Can Yarde’s Stamina Hold Up?

Yarde, 34, is going to be dangerous through at least seven rounds because that’s usually around that point that he starts gassing out due to his bodybuilder’s physique. He had former undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev hurt on a couple of occasions in their fight on January 28, 2023.

He’d repeatedly caught Beterbiev with uppercuts and left hooks to the head in the first half of the fight. Once Beterbiev figured Yarde out, he unloaded on him with short combinations on the inside in round seven and finished him in the eighth to score a technical knockout.