ANTHONY Yarde has been left in limbo after it was announced that his domestic rivals, Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith, will lock horns on February 22.
The matchup came as a surprise to the majority of boxing fans, with most expecting Buatsi to finally square off against ‘The Beast from the East’ at some point this year.
After all, the two British light heavyweights have been on a collision course for the best part of six years, before Yarde lost his first world title shot against Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
But now, former super middleweight champion Smith has been awarded the opportunity to face Buatsi on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2.
Yarde, meanwhile, has been left without an opponent after the all-London showdown was, at least for the time being, taken off the table.
The 33-year-old has amassed three victories since losing to Beterbiev in 2023, with his last performance taking place on a Sky Sports show in October.
However, despite initiating a relationship with Boxxer boss Ben Shalom, Yarde remains open to working with any promoter who can offer him a fair deal.
And so, after spending much of 2024 out of the ring, for reasons seemingly beyond his control, the explosive puncher is determined to reignite his career in 2025.
“[The Buatsi fight] was put to both of us,” Yarde told Boxing News. “We just tried to make the fight happen. As we’ve seen, it didn’t unfold how I wanted it to, but we don’t know what the future holds.
“I’m willing to work with anybody who is willing to negotiate fairly and make the big fights happen.
“I wanna be out before March. All the big fights for me are tied up right now – Buatsi made his choice to fight Smith, and Smith is another guy I would’ve liked to fight.
“For me, I don’t care if they put me in with a guy who’s ranked 50 [in the world]. I just wanna be active, and when these big fights present themselves, I’ll be ready.”
