ANTHONY YARDEย fights to move into contention to challenge for a world title having been told he can be the โnew-age Nigel Bennโ.
On Saturday at Londonโs Copper Box Arena he meets Richard Baranyi, no doubt hoping for an 11th knockout and a 12th win from 12, and at a time when there is growing excitement surrounding his future.
The 25-year-old, a natural athlete who once had trials at QPR and Harlequins and trained under heptathlete Tessa Sanderson, is among Frank Warrenโs finest prospects.
His promoter once worked with Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew when they, like Yarde, were light-heavyweights, and does little to hide the extent of his faith in him.
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???? Blow up@mranthonyyarde has a brilliant message to his fans. ???? pic.twitter.com/7PtDLGVpl7โ BT Sport Boxing ???? (@BTSportBoxing) July 1, 2017
Warren also worked with the exciting Benn, among Britainโs most popular fighters of the 1990s, for some of the finest nights of his career, and according to Yarde has detected similarities between them.
โFrankโs been making a comparison a lot with Nigel Benn,โ Londonโs Yarde told Press Association Sport.
โHe said I really remind him of Nigel Benn, in the way in the early days of his career he was knocking everyone out, but he said the difference is that Iโm more tactical in what Iโm doing, and am a bit more of a thinker. Heโs said Iโm โThe new-age Nigel Bennโ.
โItโs such a motivation that heโd compare me to someone like him. He was a feared world champion. He also told me that for the (limited) level of amateur experience Iโve had, heโs never seen anything like it.
ONE WEEKโ๏ธ @BradleySkeete, @mranthonyyarde, @DynamiteDubois, @hughiefury, @Sammcness, @DarryllWilliams, @LyonWoodstockJr #TheFutureIsNow ???? pic.twitter.com/BtAM11EoSr
โ BoxNation (@boxnationtv) July 1, 2017
โIn some ways it doesnโt make sense how good I am, but thereโs still a lot of questions to be answered: can I take a shot? Can I go the distance? Heโs told me when the timeโs right Iโll get the fights Iโm supposed to get.โ
Victory against Baranyi would take Yarde into the WBOโs top 15, but a world title fight is unlikely to come soon.
Attention has recently turned to reports of an ill-advised third fight between Steve Collins and Benn, respectively 52 and 53, and Yarde โ a friend of the latterโs son Conor โ said: โSome people donโt know when to leave the sport, theyโve got such love for it.
โSometimes they feel like they need to come back. Nigelโs sonโs boxing now, heโs always in the gym with him: old memories come, you go back on the pads, start to fall in love with it again.
โAny publicityโs good for boxing. Itโs not a mainstream sport around the world, and anything that brings more attention to it is good for it.
โ(But) Iโd like to see him stay retired. Heโs an elderly man, has done massive things in the sport. Heโs got a son; when you reach a certain age and have accomplished what heโs accomplished you can sit back and watch the next generation come up.โ