I reluctantly voted Smith but with this caveat: I'm not sure how much Callum is up for a fight if it's made a bit chaotic and physical. It was very clear after a few rounds fighting Canelo, Smith's game plan was not working. At some point he could have just decided to make it a messy physical scrap - he's 6' 3'' and was matched up vs a relative midget. If he simply wanted to see the final bell in a losing effort, this doesn't deflect from my suspicion he struggles to flip from boxer to fighter. Ryder exploited this flaw and unsettled Smith by roughing him up - and beat him doing so. Yarde could easily do the same and for sure has the stones to do so, after all he tried to KO Kovalev in Russia when no-one would have batted an eyelid if he'd fiddled his way to a competitive loss. With the Canelo fight apparently pencilled in, Kov would probably have taken that too. Yarde lacks skill but not heart. Smith, the opposite. Yarde's a live dog (lion)...
Smith is the more skilled but Yarde is game and built like a Cruiser. As others have stated if Canelo and Ryder can apply rough house and disrupt Smith then I can't see why the far bigger and stronger Yarde can't do the same. It depends which version of Smith shows up I would efge with Yarde though.
Yarde is also stupid enough to try to be a slickster potshotting from the outside instead of trying to swarm guys and throw flurries up close...
Arthur fought like a chicken. Never really wanted to be in the ring there with Yarde. Callum Smith is a different kind of fighter.
100%, and I don't want to make a overly-strong case for Yarde - it's just he does possess qualities Smith hasn't enjoyed dealing with in the past, albeit in a fight at 168. It's a fight I'd wanna see because each fighter's style tests the other's weaknesses. And weaknesses that persist because of bad coaching imho...
Yarde has fought a bunch of cans. His best opponent was a past prime Kovalev who dominated him if we exclude one or two greasy rounds where Yarde had Kovalev in trouble. Lyndon Arthur is nothing special. Domestic level fighter. Smith is way more proven and experienced in my opinion. Callum Smith would destroy Arthur.
