Callum Johnson thinks Artur Beterbiev is angry with Anthony Yarde ahead of their fight on January 28th at the OVO Arena in London, England.
Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) has done a fair bit of criticizing of IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) during the build-up, calling him “slow” and not showing reverence that other opponents of his have shown him.
The lack of respect that Yarde has shown to Beterbiev has resulted in him looking like he wants to do damage on January 28th. The only question is does Yarde have the talent to keep Beterbiev from inflicting that punishment upon him?
“He seems angry. Having an angry Beterbiev, it’s not a good combination, to be fair,” said Callum Johnson to Queensbury Promotions about IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev being angry at Anthony Yarde ahead of their fight on January 28th.
“Artur speaks better English than I thought he did, and he says,’What is your point?'” said Johnson about Beterbiev asking the interview what he was driving at when he informed him that Oleksandr Usyk had given Yarde advice on how to defeat him.
“Beterbiev had close to 300 amateur fights. If he was burned out. I say from the last performance [against Joe Smith Jr], he didn’t look anywhere near burned out. That’s the only way it could be an advantage. So, no, not really,” said Johnson when asked if Yarde’s lack of an amateur background could be an advantage against Beterbiev.
“I think think the experience you get from the amateurs, especially the international amateurs, and the level Beterbiev was campaigning at for many, many years; it stands you in very good stead.
“That’s why he beat Tarvis Cloud in his fourth or fifth fight, a former world champion. He was like world level pretty much from his [Beterbiev] third or fourth fight, and that comes from the amateur background and the amateur pedigree.
“I think that’s where Anthony Yarde is at a massive disadvantage, to be honest. Show him no respect. Put it straight on him,” said Johnson about his advice for Yarde to use in the Beterbiev fight.
“Let him know you mean business and hit him hard quite early if you can. At the same time, it’s a dangerous game to play at well. Don’t let him bully you in close. Make sure you let him know that you’re as strong as he is. Just let him know that you’re here to fight and to win,” said Johnson about what Yarde needs to do.