Round-by-Round: Anthony Yarde vs. Lyndon Arthur - 5 December 2020

[gregregegg]

Mental how Joyce won and it was all about DDDs eye, then Arthur won, and its all about Yarde and his team being Idiots. They are valid storylines, but geeze not much credit going Joyce and Arthurs way. Promotion is cooked.

Frank Should of been out there saying joyces jab is harder than AJs right and calling him into big fights. Then he should of been talking about 1 handed Arthur schooling someone than nearly knocked Kov and calling for Arthur vs Buatsi. Those guys could have buzzing momentum, instead Joyce is going to rely on being Mandatory, and Arthur will fade back into irrelevance.

Yard and DDD dont need hyping, excuses, and rematches, they need about 5-10 x 70-30th best in the world type fights.

[Lightsoot]

A poor spectacle. No one is talking about Arthur’s prospects of progressing, which says it’s all. Of that, he has something in common with Joyce - both are aging busts at top level.

I used to love the underdog. But I can’t think of two more depressing victories than Joyce & Arthur, regardless of whether they deserved it.

Yh post fight the focus was all on Yarde..

Just like it was DDD and still is..

Does FW promote Arthur? Under contract?

I don’t get your point, what is it? I’m saying both 50-50 fights were of piss poor quality, the underdogs won but no one thinks Joyce or Arthur will progress. And if they can’t, ultimately then the favourites are a bust. No malice, no finger pointing. All four are crap, at world level.

[Ruthless-RKO]

A poor spectacle. No one is talking about Arthur’s prospects of progressing, which says it’s all. Of that, he has something in common with Joyce - both are aging busts at top level.

I used to love the underdog. But I can’t think of two more depressing victories than Joyce & Arthur, regardless of whether they deserved it.

Yh post fight the focus was all on Yarde..

Just like it was DDD and still is..

Does FW promote Arthur? Under contract?

I don’t get your point, what is it? I’m saying both 50-50 fights were of piss poor quality, the underdogs won but no one thinks Joyce or Arthur will progress. And if they can’t, ultimately then the favourites are a bust. No malice, no finger pointing. All four are crap, at world level.

What I mean is even the ones that did win, they should be getting hyped a bit at least.. fact is they won being underdogs. Instead all the focus was on the ones that lost.

I get your point, on paper both fights were good. DDD vs. JJJ wasn’t too bad to be fair.

[Lightsoot]

Yh post fight the focus was all on Yarde..

Just like it was DDD and still is..

Does FW promote Arthur? Under contract?

I don’t get your point, what is it? I’m saying both 50-50 fights were of piss poor quality, the underdogs won but no one thinks Joyce or Arthur will progress. And if they can’t, ultimately then the favourites are a bust. No malice, no finger pointing. All four are crap, at world level.

What I mean is even the ones that did win, they should be getting hyped a bit at least.. fact is they won being underdogs. Instead all the focus was on the ones that lost.

I get your point, on paper both fights were good. DDD vs. JJJ wasn’t too bad to be fair.

Ah ok, I get you now Ruthless and yes I agree with your point that the spotlights have been unfairly shined on the losers.

[Fires]

To win with 1 hand is an achievement.

Yarde needs better training.


Liars in the camp I think.

Arthur will be even better next time.

Congrats TEAM ARTHUR.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Anthony Yarde's promoter Frank W vows to 'have a word' with trainer Tunde Ajayi over his unorthodox methods after surprise defeat by Lyndon Arthur

The inquest into Anthony Yarde's setback upset by Lyndon Arthur will address lingering doubts as to whether he is doing enough proper sparring to ever realise his potential for winning the world light-heavyweight title.

Yarde has remained steadfastly loyal to Tunde Ajayi through his career thus far. But the pressure is on after Arthur the underdog outpointed him despite injuring his right hand while warming up in the dressing room before Saturday night's fight at Westminster's Church House.

Promoter Frank W immediately addressed the question of trainer Tunde Ajayi's unorthodox methods by warning: 'I will be having a word.'

Warren's US counterpart Bob Arum was more direct a year ago, after Yarde came tantalising close to upsetting renowned puncher Sergy Kovalev in Russia only to be knocked out in the 11th round of that world championship fight: 'Yarde has the talents but he needs a new trainer. He didn't have a clue that he was physically under-prepared. You can't win big fights without sparring.'

If Arum was British, he might have added that this is akin to a footballer spurning practice matches prior to Premier League games.

And Yarde actually looked like he was catching up on his sparring through the first half of the fight against Arthur, in which he failed to win any of the seven opening rounds in my view and that of many others present.

A second half comeback including a barn-storming last round fell short of the knock-out he needed and the 117-111 scoring in Yarde's favour by Ian John-Lewis is another blot on the reputation of judges. Michael Alexander and Marcus McDonnel both had it 115-114 to Arthur. My card: 115-113.

Scrutiny of Yarde's corner will be sharpened by their twice failing to put his gum-shield in place at the start of rounds. Nor did their seem to be much technical advice on the need to up his game.

His route back into championship contention may include a rematch but there will have to be significant improvement if he is to reverse that split decision. Not least since Arthur is unlikely to suffer again the freak pre-fight accident which reduced him to minimal use of his right hand.

As a consequence he produced a carbon-copy of the jab, jab, jab performance with which Joe Joyce shocked heavyweight prodigy Daniel Dubois in the same house a week earlier.

Further rebuttal of criticism for Dubois taking a knee in the tenth round, with his left eye swollen shut, has come with specialist confirmation that he had suffered fractures of two orbital bones and that any further damage or retinal bleeding would have threatened his sight and his career.

[mickey1975]

Nelson is standing by his comments and he thinks he was proven right on his Usyk one as Bellew was at the time the fight was stopped.

[danconnollyeire]

A poor spectacle. No one is talking about Arthur’s prospects of progressing, which says it’s all. Of that, he has something in common with Joyce - both are aging busts at top level.

I used to love the underdog. But I can’t think of two more depressing victories than Joyce & Arthur, regardless of whether they deserved it.

Yh post fight the focus was all on Yarde..

Just like it was DDD and still is..

Does FW promote Arthur? Under contract?

I never really knew much about Yarde, just that he had very little AM background and his trainer is a bit of a clown. I watched the Kovalev fight and was impressed with his effort but after seeing his reaction and attitude over the weekend, I'm glad he lost. Learn some respect

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Enlightened-One]

I’ve just watched the BT Sport “Listen in” video and it seems that Yarde and Ajayi were supremely confident they were winning the fight against Arthur.

Between rounds they kept saying how “fantastic” the fight was going.

And as soon as the final bell had rung, Yarde was celebrating and appeared to commiserate Arthur for his valiant effort.

I’m surprised they’d read the situation so poorly. And I wonder if they’ve watched the fight and can now understand the reason why the fight was close, with Arthur receiving a well-deserved victory.

[margaret thatcher]

holy f@ck dude is loud lol, don't think i've heard a dude screaming like that in the ring

[dookus]

I’m surprised they’d read the situation so poorly. And I wonder if they’ve watched the fight and can now understand the reason why the fight was close, with Arthur receiving a well-deserved victory.

I'm not. There are a litany of other indicators that Tunde is not a very good coach - has any one ever seen a trainer forget the gumshield twice in a row? - but the absolute fundamental skill of a coach is to see very clearly what's happening in there and adjust the plan accordingly. Tunde failed that test miserably. It's going to be hard for a guy who calls himself "MASTER GENIUS" on his social media to accept the truth about that fight, but stranger things have happened.

A lot of Tunde's method seems to be relentless positivity. Instagram and "DREAM IT,BELIEVE IT,BECOME IT" and all that wank. Lots of flashy shit on the pads, Yarde doesn't spar much so he doesn't have his confidence knocked by bad sparring days. Huge amounts of conditioning. Tunde shields his fighter by doing a lot of interviews, he manages him as well.

Now that is all well and good, but if you're not sparring, you're not learning how to solve the myriad of problems a boxing match throws up - let alone under fire and trying to claw back a fight. And if you're being fed motivational crap all the time, you won't be thinking of how to work on your own weaknesses. I thought for sure he would come to life after Tunde belatedly spotted the injury, but no - the whole corner seemed to be convinced that he would just win the rounds by default if he kept going forward.

Simple truth is a) he needs a new trainer and b) he needs to put in the hours in the ring with people who will test him and make him learn. He had a dozen amateur fights, fought no pros of much real note pre-Kovalev. He's not experienced enough and the proof is in getting comfortably outboxed (fornicate the cards) by a one-handed guy who wasn't meant to be at his level.

[maverick23]

I’m surprised they’d read the situation so poorly. And I wonder if they’ve watched the fight and can now understand the reason why the fight was close, with Arthur receiving a well-deserved victory.

I'm not. There are a litany of other indicators that Tunde is not a very good coach - has any one ever seen a trainer forget the gumshield twice in a row? - but the absolute fundamental skill of a coach is to see very clearly what's happening in there and adjust the plan accordingly. Tunde failed that test miserably. It's going to be hard for a guy who calls himself "MASTER GENIUS" on his social media to accept the truth about that fight, but stranger things have happened.

A lot of Tunde's method seems to be relentless positivity. Instagram and "DREAM IT,BELIEVE IT,BECOME IT" and all that wank. Lots of flashy shit on the pads, Yarde doesn't spar much so he doesn't have his confidence knocked by bad sparring days. Huge amounts of conditioning. Tunde shields his fighter by doing a lot of interviews, he manages him as well.

Now that is all well and good, but if you're not sparring, you're not learning how to solve the myriad of problems a boxing match throws up - let alone under fire and trying to claw back a fight. And if you're being fed motivational crap all the time, you won't be thinking of how to work on your own weaknesses. I thought for sure he would come to life after Tunde belatedly spotted the injury, but no - the whole corner seemed to be convinced that he would just win the rounds by default if he kept going forward.

Simple truth is a) he needs a new trainer and b) he needs to put in the hours in the ring with people who will test him and make him learn. He had a dozen amateur fights, fought no pros of much real note pre-Kovalev. He's not experienced enough and the proof is in getting comfortably outboxed (fornicate the cards) by a one-handed guy who wasn't meant to be at his level.

Agree with every word!

[coneye]

Did he not consider stepping to his right occasionally to cut the ring off?

No mate because he doesn’t know how too, and you know why ? Because his team that should work for British Gas with all their hot air and clearly have about as much knowledge on the technical side of boxing and being trainers as a worker for British Gas, Pretend to be the Jesus Christ or the oracle of boxing and the all knowing knowledge, and do not think sparring is essential and isn’t needed, so he has never had to face that or learn to, navigate styles and solve problems etc in sparring & training which is a must, hence he fights exactly with his feet how you do when you do pad work alone, like I said, they think school girl party cake hand shakes and unrealistic, useless pad routines are all you need, when in reality pad work is one of the very least things in a camp you need, and no can say “no you must
Do pads for timing, you just do pads for putting combinations together and working on your game plan” no you fu King do that and achieve that in sparring, doing bag work (correctly working the bag & drills) pads are IMO only good for a bit of a blow out and opening up your lungs with a high work rate, again you achieve better results for both doing sprints and interval work so again IMO pads are one the very least things you need in a camp, it’s a new era thing where it’s all about the trainers doing ridiculous, exaggerated, unrealistic routines for social media and to “look at me” that in reality will and do never work in real time in a fight, that’s just my opinion. Think they must be obsessed with joe exotic (tiger king) with all the absolutely ridiculous “lions in the camp” shouting, well ya need to get out that camp and join a camp where there’s elephants in the camp, the real kings of the jungle, big, humble, majestic animals that actually know what they are doing, intelligent and work in peace but no one fu ks with

Good post ,,, But , i'm of two minds here ,,, Firstly , pads the way i see them done with a lot is basicly useless , they may has well be hitting the bag , , and there loved by many who are on an ego trip with the look at me look at me performance by the pad holder , especielly when you see some pad men with there arms 3 feet apart , what do some boxers have two heads .
however .

I think when done correctly there an invaluable tool , i know whenever i have done pads and still do , i will get in a boxing stance and instruct say , jab , hook of the jab , over for a hook to the body , with instructions to actually hit me , and i rely on myself too catch the punches , after all i know whats comeing i instruct them , and i will continually be moving , its up to the boxer to catch me use his feet , and position himself ,

For me good pad work is like a moving bag , so in other words , a basic combination on a heavy bag ,,, then same combination on pads which just equal a moving bag , so therfore learns the same combo , only moving , sometimes i'll call it moving away , other times moving in , but all times the boxer has to find his own range , i find there a great tool ,But experience has taught me , put a mouth gaurd in LOL ,

But when you see a trainer , just standing still arms apart shouting unrealistic , 10-15 punch combo's , there a complete waste of time

[Counter-puncher]

I’m surprised they’d read the situation so poorly. And I wonder if they’ve watched the fight and can now understand the reason why the fight was close, with Arthur receiving a well-deserved victory.

I'm not. There are a litany of other indicators that Tunde is not a very good coach - has any one ever seen a trainer forget the gumshield twice in a row? - but the absolute fundamental skill of a coach is to see very clearly what's happening in there and adjust the plan accordingly. Tunde failed that test miserably. It's going to be hard for a guy who calls himself "MASTER GENIUS" on his social media to accept the truth about that fight, but stranger things have happened.

A lot of Tunde's method seems to be relentless positivity. Instagram and "DREAM IT,BELIEVE IT,BECOME IT" and all that wank. Lots of flashy shit on the pads, Yarde doesn't spar much so he doesn't have his confidence knocked by bad sparring days. Huge amounts of conditioning. Tunde shields his fighter by doing a lot of interviews, he manages him as well.

Now that is all well and good, but if you're not sparring, you're not learning how to solve the myriad of problems a boxing match throws up - let alone under fire and trying to claw back a fight. And if you're being fed motivational crap all the time, you won't be thinking of how to work on your own weaknesses. I thought for sure he would come to life after Tunde belatedly spotted the injury, but no - the whole corner seemed to be convinced that he would just win the rounds by default if he kept going forward.

Simple truth is a) he needs a new trainer and b) he needs to put in the hours in the ring with people who will test him and make him learn. He had a dozen amateur fights, fought no pros of much real note pre-Kovalev. He's not experienced enough and the proof is in getting comfortably outboxed (fornicate the cards) by a one-handed guy who wasn't meant to be at his level.

I suspect he’s already learned enough bad habits that retraining him may be futile. Either that or he started late enough it’s a struggle anyway (like Eubank jr?) he reminds me of Junior a bit. It’s the feet, he can’t think with his feet, hasn’t spend long enough drilling the basics, I mean he can punch, he can move ok, but he can’t put them together and do them at the same time.

[mickey1975]

The head guy at my gym can catch punches off target on the pads with lads he’s trained for years.
There is a lot to be said for starting young. We even get blokes in their 50’s who boxed years ago who still know how to move about.

[dookus]

I’m surprised they’d read the situation so poorly. And I wonder if they’ve watched the fight and can now understand the reason why the fight was close, with Arthur receiving a well-deserved victory.

I'm not. There are a litany of other indicators that Tunde is not a very good coach - has any one ever seen a trainer forget the gumshield twice in a row? - but the absolute fundamental skill of a coach is to see very clearly what's happening in there and adjust the plan accordingly. Tunde failed that test miserably. It's going to be hard for a guy who calls himself "MASTER GENIUS" on his social media to accept the truth about that fight, but stranger things have happened.

A lot of Tunde's method seems to be relentless positivity. Instagram and "DREAM IT,BELIEVE IT,BECOME IT" and all that wank. Lots of flashy shit on the pads, Yarde doesn't spar much so he doesn't have his confidence knocked by bad sparring days. Huge amounts of conditioning. Tunde shields his fighter by doing a lot of interviews, he manages him as well.

Now that is all well and good, but if you're not sparring, you're not learning how to solve the myriad of problems a boxing match throws up - let alone under fire and trying to claw back a fight. And if you're being fed motivational crap all the time, you won't be thinking of how to work on your own weaknesses. I thought for sure he would come to life after Tunde belatedly spotted the injury, but no - the whole corner seemed to be convinced that he would just win the rounds by default if he kept going forward.

Simple truth is a) he needs a new trainer and b) he needs to put in the hours in the ring with people who will test him and make him learn. He had a dozen amateur fights, fought no pros of much real note pre-Kovalev. He's not experienced enough and the proof is in getting comfortably outboxed (fornicate the cards) by a one-handed guy who wasn't meant to be at his level.

I suspect he’s already learned enough bad habits that retraining him may be futile. Either that or he started late enough it’s a struggle anyway (like Eubank jr?) he reminds me of Junior a bit. It’s the feet, he can’t think with his feet, hasn’t spend long enough drilling the basics, I mean he can punch, he can move ok, but he can’t put them together and do them at the same time.

Exactly this. Being able to move and react with the feet is everything (which is one of the many reasons I was no good at boxing) and you need thousands of hours, and plenty of sparring, to bed that in.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[maverick23]

I don’t particularly like it when anyone talks in the 3rd person but when Tunde does it it winds Maverick23 up even more.

[TheGoods]

BBC podcast with Costello & Bunce on Thursday did a preview show and interviewed Tunde. He said it was “impossible” for Arthur to win on the back foot “and you can quote me on that.” Dismissive of Arthur’s jab saying it didn’t make a dent on Dec Spellman. Sounded massively over confident and surely he gets the auld tin tack now?

[Controversial]

Yarde just tweeted “it’s time to make some changes”, maybe he's ditching his trainer?

[dookus]

Yarde just tweeted “it’s time to make some changes”, maybe he's ditching his trainer?

I hope so, it's time to realise his potential now - whatever that is. I would really hope Fwank's putting in a call to someone like Adam Booth

[Grilling Machine]

Andy Lee talking a lot of sense about Dubois right now.

What did he say ? I do like listening to Andy ..

Ah, he just said that the doctor should've been called to look at Dub's eye a couple of rounds earlier, because we now realise the sensible thing would've been to stop it at that point. Failing that, he questioned why the towel wasn't thrown.

Haye disagreed and mentioned his Bellew rematch, saying that even though he was on fumes he wanted to exhaust himself. But Lee felt that's exactly why corners need to think about their fighters' futures and families, since in the end it's only a sport.

[MightyWarrior]

Yarde needs a new trainer, and so does Dubois while they’re at it. Considering the docs are saying DD nearly suffered a career ending eye injury his corner should be fired, and so should the hapless Ian John Lewis - such a faithful HOUSE REF his incompetence nearly ended Fran*s big hope’s career.
Even if he tried to make it up with his blatant home-cooked scoring in the yarde fight a week later..

[Ruthless-RKO]

Andy Lee talking a lot of sense about Dubois right now.

What did he say ? I do like listening to Andy ..

Ah, he just said that the doctor should've been called to look at Dub's eye a couple of rounds earlier, because we now realise the sensible thing would've been to stop it at that point. Failing that, he questioned why the towel wasn't thrown.

Haye disagreed and mentioned his Bellew rematch, saying that even though he was on fumes he wanted to exhaust himself. But Lee felt that's exactly why corners need to think about their fighters' futures and families, since in the end it's only a sport.