David Benavidez ended Anthony Yarde’s third world-title bid with a late stoppage, flooring the British light-heavyweight and forcing the referee to halt the contest in the seventh round in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
After a tentative opening, Benavidez established control and, midway through the seventh, unleashed a heavy barrage that sent 34-year-old Yarde to the canvas. Blood poured from Yarde’s nose and stained the canvas; with roughly a minute remaining another flurry prompted the referee to stop the fight. Benavidez was docked two points for punches that landed while Yarde was down, but the momentum and damage had already made the outcome clear.
“I stuck in there. I’m a fighter,” Yarde told BBC Radio 5 Live after the fight. “I felt like it was competitive. I know how he comes with good pressure. I was boxing, boxing, thinking middle rounds, the dog rounds, we would exchange. He has quick hands, caught me first and hit me with a good shot on the nose. When I took a knee and he hit me when I was down, I was dizzy after that.”
Benavidez, 28, preserved his unbeaten record, improving to 31 wins with 25 stoppages, and immediately suggested he will move up to cruiserweight to challenge Gilberto Ramirez for the WBA and WBO titles on 2 May, targeting a three-weight world championship.
Legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced the fighters early in the Riyadh morning — the card was timed for Mexican and American television audiences. Yarde, from Hackney, entered the arena in a subdued manner, taking in the surroundings, while Benavidez appeared relaxed, greeting fans and accompanied by his five-year-old son and entourage.
Both men, known respectively for work-rate and power, began cautiously. Benavidez probed with pressure and volume; Yarde, who entered with a high knockout ratio in his record, looked to time counters. In the fourth round Benavidez tried to draw Yarde out and the Brit answered with a sharp right. At the round’s close Yarde tied up Benavidez’s right arm and was met with a rapid sequence of lefts.
Yarde picked up a mark beneath his right eye and found it difficult to consistently take rounds, perhaps showing too much respect for the champion’s output. By the sixth he was wiping blood from his nose and appeared unsettled; his trainer, Tunde Ajayi, urged him in the corner: “You’re a warrior, you’re a lion.”
Benavidez mixed head and body shots and shifted between southpaw and orthodox stances. A heavy combination in the seventh drove Yarde to the canvas and led to the two-point penalty when Benavidez landed after Yarde went down. A sustained finishing attack, capped by a left hook, forced the referee to stop the contest to protect the challenger.
Yarde turned professional about a decade ago without a significant amateur background and has often bypassed the usual domestic ladder in pursuit of fast-track world opportunities. He previously lost title fights to Sergey Kovalev in 2019 and Artur Beterbiev in 2022. Despite demonstrating he can compete at a high level, Yarde has now been denied a third world crown attempt and may face difficult decisions about his future.
Retirement could be considered, but options remain at light-heavyweight, including attractive domestic match-ups. A showdown with fellow Britons such as Joshua Buatsi or Callum Smith — fights that were previously discussed or speculated about — would still interest Yarde and his supporters as he reassesses his next move.
