David Benavidez Vs. Anthony Yarde Set For November Riyadh Season: Breaking Down The “Dangerous” Gatekeeper Challenger

Turki Alalshikh revealed on social media today that David Benavidez will defend his WBC light heavyweight title against “dangerous” contender Anthony Yarde in November in a Riyadh Season event.

Fans are disappointed with the news of Turki using Yarde as the opponent for ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s next fight, as they were hoping that he would face WBO interim champion Callum Smith.

Yarde has been labeled a “meh” pick by fans, who see a flawed fighter who fails when stepped up against quality opposition. He’s out of place fighting for a world title against a talent like Benavidez.

Benavidez-Yarde Fight Confirmed

Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) has challenged for world titles twice in his 10-year professional career and has been knocked out both times, losing to Artur Beterbiev and Sergey Kovalev. The British fighter Yarde, 33, is a gatekeeper-type fighter. He has good skills, but he lacks the talent to win world titles.

Anthony is ranked #2 WBO, #4 WBA, #5 IBF, and #5 WBC. That ranking is more of an indication of the weakness of the light heavyweight division than it is about Yarde’s talent level.

Since being knocked out in the eighth round by former unified 175-lb champion Beterbiev in 2023, Yarde has won his last four fights against lesser opposition. He’s not stepped up since that loss until now. In Yarde’s last fight, he defeated fellow Brit Lyndon Arthur by a 12-round unanimous decision last April.

No explanation was given why that fight didn’t happen, but it’s reasonable to assume that Smith and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, opted not to take the risky fight. He’s in a position to challenge the winner of the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev trilogy match. It would be a bad career move for Callum to fight a dangerous fighter like Benavidez and miss out on that chance for a bigger payday.

Benavidez: Step Down Opponent?

Yarde is a big step down for Benavidez for his fight earlier this year in February against WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell. Benavidez took a lot of punishment from the Cuban Morrell in that fight, and was fortunate to get through it without getting knocked out. Benavidez gassed out in the championship rounds and was dropped by Morrell.

Analyzing Yarde’s Gatekeeper Status

Like many of Yarde’s fights, he looked strong early, but then gassed out at the midpoint of the fight and was throwing arm punches for the second half. He kind of coasted on his early lead to hold on to get the victory. It wasn’t great stuff from Yarde, and cemented the view fans already have about him being a gatekeeper-level fighter.

Yarde’s Last Four Fights

Lyndon Arthur
Ralfs Vilcans
Marko Nikolic
Jorge Silva

‘The Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez will be making his Riyadh Season debut in the month of November, when he defends the WBC light heavyweight world title against dangerous challenger Anthony Yarde💪🏻🥊🔥 pic.twitter.com/dGGd68SnAT

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) July 3, 2025