ANTHONY YARDE made a winning return to the ring – but it was far from pretty.
The Beast from the East, who has not boxed since February, dropped the visiting Ralfs Vilcans with his first punch of the fight but was unable to put him away thereafter.
In fact, the visitor from Latvia landed throughout and might have felt aggrieved when referee Victor Loughlin scored Yarde a wide 98-92 winner after 10 at the Copper Box.
But, in what was a co-promotion between Yardeโs AY Promotions and Boxxer, the 33-year-old still secured the victory can now look to try and make a long-awaited clash with the ringside Joshua Buatsi after years of trying.
Yarde had looked set to secure the earliest of stoppages when he landed with his first right hand of the fight inside 10 seconds of the opening bell. But the visitor regrouped and made it through the remainder of the round, with Yarde seemingly happy to take his time. He was told to stay patient by his corner and he did not seem in any hurry in the second.
In fact it was Vilcans who was landing more jabs of the two after such a horror start. He even finished the round by landing a right hand to the body and then the head with his confidence visibly growing.
It was clear Vilcansโ power was not troubling Yarde but he was the busier of the two and won the third round on ambition alone, although the Londoner got through with a couple of hard body shots and a right hook to the head.
It was a similar story in the fourth, although while it was Vilcans throwing with more volume, the harder, more eye-catching shots were all coming from Yarde who continued to chip away at the Latvian.
And Yarde finally started to take over in the fifth, which he started with a sharp right hand over the top. He turned the screw throughout the round and seemed to be hurting Vilcans with everything he landed although the 30-year-old โTrainโ made it to the bell without another knockdown.
Yarde clearly had zero respect for Vilcansโ power and continued to stomp forward despite what was coming back his way. He was getting caught on the way in but was landing to the Latvianโs head and body almost at will by now.
But Vilcans came back in the seventh and enjoyed some sustained success, switching his attack from head to body with the right hand with Yarde static and non-plussed by the attacks. And the frustration continued into the eighth with the underdog still landing more than Yarde and refusing to wilt.
And there were gasps from the crowd inside the Copper Box in the ninth when Vilcans unloaded with a sustained attack with both hands with Yarde against the ropes. The visitor was visibly tired by now but was doing enough to win rounds.
Perhaps sensing that the scores could be close, Yarde applied the pressure again in the 10th round but it was far from vintage from the two-time world title challenger. Even so, Loughlin thought it was far more comfortable than it looked.