Punching Power: Yarde Confident He’ll School Benavidez, David Insists He’s Ready

British Light Heavyweight Anthony Yarde believes his punching power is unlike anything David Benavidez has ever faced. Yarde steps into the ring against Benavidez on November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“I don’t think anyone has hit him the way I hit. But we’ll have to wait — the fight itself will show everything. The one thing I’m sure of is that styles make fights. Styles define matchups, so this fight will be exciting.

The most striking moment I saw was when Morrell caught him with a left hook and Benavidez’s legs dipped a bit. But that only shows how good Benavidez is. Even when he gets clipped, people react like, ‘ha-ha’, but he still dominates the fight.

I’m not stupid. Benavidez is still undefeated. He’s moved up to my weight class, already faced the top guys here and beaten them. He dominated at Super Middleweight and was a world champion there. I’m not — not yet. I’m a realist, and when I face a truly strong opponent, I know what I’m walking into. That’s when I reveal my full potential,” Yarde said.

Benavidez insists he is prepared for everything his opponent can bring:

“First, I’m going to go out there and do my thing. A lot of people say they can catch me and knock me out. But I think they need to worry about themselves first. They need to think about covering up from all angles, because I can go to the body. I can go to the head. I can do a lot.

Anthony Yarde has been stopped twice. So he should be worried about not getting stopped a third time. I’m ready for everything he throws. I’m not thinking about whether he can hurt me. I’m going in there to stop him — and that’s exactly what I’ll do,” Benavidez said.

The matchup between David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) and Anthony Yarde (26-3, 24 KOs) takes place on November 22 in Riyadh. The card will also feature Jesse Rodriguez, Devin Haney, Brian Norman, and others.