It is a real treat for British boxing fans to see one of the sport’s most formidable and ferocious punchers compete for the first time on UK soil as Beterbiev defends the WBC, IBF and WBO belts at 175lbs against his mandatory challenger at Wembley Arena.
The Russian is an overwhelming favourite to make it 19 straight professional wins on Saturday as he bids to keep his remarkable knockout streak intact and potentially set up a mouthwatering undisputed meeting with compatriot and WBA king Dmitry Bivol later this year.
The odds are seriously stacked against Yarde, but he is backing himself to pull off an almighty upset in a much-anticipated main event.
The ‘Beast from the East’ has reeled off three straight wins since his shock split-decision loss to Lyndon Arthur back in 2020, avenging that second career defeat with a big knockout either side of comfortable wins over low-key opposition in Alex Theran and Stefani Koykov.
Yarde will hope to draw on his experience of his previous world title tilt in August 2019, when he travelled to Russia and almost stunned Sergey Kovalev before succumbing to a battling loss.
Here’s where to watch all of tonight’s fights, including the chief support act – a WBA flyweight scrap between unbeaten rivals in Artem Dalakian and David Jimenez.
How to watch Beterbiev vs Yarde
TV channel: Beterbiev vs Yarde is available to watch live in the UK on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate, with coverage of the undercard beginning at 7pm GMT.
Main event ring walks are expected at around 10pm.
Live stream: If you have a BT Sport subscription, you can watch the whole event as it happens live online via the BT Sport app or website.
LIVE coverage: Standard Sport’s live blog will have coverage of every bout live on fight night.
