Him staying on his feet the next 4 rounds was absolutely impossible. He was gassed, battered, and Beterbiev would have sent him out in a stretcher had it not been stopped. With your pipedreams over here
I had it 5-2 to Beterbeast but 4-3 was ok too..... Does it really surprise anyone that the Korean judge had it 5-2 Yarde? They are not renowned for quality judging.
The Korean had the worst card, and it was horrible enough. The other two, one with Yarde ahead and one with Beterbiev leading (both by a point) were within reason. But it was clear from the early rounds how things were going to finish.
Beterbiev was up 5-2 on my card as he was controlling the fight, outlanding Yarde and landing the harder punches.
No UK promoter is flying out a Korean to a London show they've sunk millions into and not having him in pocket. Yarde was getting pummeled by any metric of scoring, and the WORST card you could have was 4-3 in favor of Beterbiev.
Those manila envelopes were sliding incessantly under their hotel doors. They failed to drug Beterbiev before the fight though and even if they did, it wasn't enough to stop him from battering Yarde badly
Worst fight to bribe judges. Yarde's face was beaten badly, I wonder if the judges knew that the cut on Beterbiev was from an accidental headbutt? If it wasn't for that Beterbiev's face would have looked much better, his punches causing more damage than two of Yarde's.
Good fight! I had Beterbiev one round ahead and it actually went how I expected it to go, other than I thought Yarde would either be counted out or stopped by the ref…not pulled out by his corner. But Yarde’s performance up until the finish didn’t surprise me at all…like I said in a previous post, he’s no mug and can punch a bit, but no way will he be able take Beterbiev’s punches for 12 Rounds. As for AB, he isn’t getting any younger and he looked a little bit shaken at times. But it’s his incredible power that separates him from the guys in this division, and why I tip him to whup 99% of them before the final bell. Bivol may well be the 1% exception to this.
That would have worked if it wasn't a South Korean and American who had him ahead .. but yes they were wrong he wasn't winning I agree on that, he won 3 rounds tops for me
He emptied his tank (or had it emptied) to stay in the fight for eight rounds. As a result, there was no chance he could make it to the final bell. If he'd boxed with 12 rounds in mind, he'd not have been as competitive in the eight rounds we witnessed. Yarde did well, but the way he paced himself - or failed to pace himself to be more accurate - made the contest closer in terms of points than it was in terms of a fight. He got beaten up and broken down but stayed in the contest until the end. That was probably the best he could have hoped for. Fair play, he's ballsy...
I had it 4-3 Beterbiev. Yarde won rounds. Beterbiev doesn't always win rounds. He breaks you down with pressure. The Smith Jr fight was an anomaly where Joe just came charging at Betebiev and got wiped out.
Pretty much this. It's basically a mid round stoppage the 8th round means there's a whopping 5 to go. I don't think anyone thought Yarde was stopping AB or making it to the bell
Although it's quite feasible to have Yarde ahead after 7, due to 4 rounds that could be scored either way, and you'd actually expect it on a Warren card if the British fighter is competitive, I don't think he would eventually have made it on the cards if he somehow survived. Round 8 was on his way to become at least a 10-7 round and even if he had somehow stayed upright for the remaining minute (10-8) and then recover in a miraculous Fury type way, I guess it would still have been survival mode from there out. With best case scenario 77-74 / 75-76 / 76-75 after round losing 8 by 10-8, Yarde in the state he was in needed to win 3 out of the 4 next rounds to win by close split decision.
