David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde | DAZN - 22 November 2025

[Ruthless-RKO]

David Benavidez First World Title Defence Against Fighter With 88% KO Ratio Officially Announced

David Benavidez is set for the first defence of his WBC Light-Heavyweight World Title this November.

The undefeated 28-year-old moved up to the 175lbs division after failing to secure a shot at super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Since doing so, Benavidez has not put a foot wrong in the division, beating Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his debut to win the WBC Interim belt and then adding the WBA Regular strap next time out against tough David Morrell.

Benavidez was upgraded to full champion on April 7 when previously undisputed Dmitry Bivol decided to vacate the WBC belt in favour of having a trilogy bout with Artur Beterbiev.

Though ‘El Monstruo’ said he did not want to win the belt without throwing a punch, he has since promised to continue to deliver fans some of the best match-ups in the sport. His first defence was, according to the team, between Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde. The two Brits are ranked second and third respectively with the WBC.

Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh has now announced that it is Yarde who has landed the shot.

Yarde – 27‑3 with 24 KOs – recently closed out his light-heavyweight trilogy with Lyndon Arthur on April 26 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Securing a unanimous decision, the big-punching 33-year-old delivered a gritty performance – but the fight was considered dull by many fans and analysts.

Despite that, the win adds to Yarde’s momentum, bringing him to four straight victories after his 2023 defeat to Artur Beterbiev. He has previously lost to Sergey Kovalev in the other world title challenge of his career.

More on the fight is expected soon, but it looks to be landing on the same card as Devin Haney vs welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Turki loves Frank.

Was sure Cal was gonna get it

He deserved it more

[Ruthless-RKO]

https://ringmagazine.com/en/news/david- ... n-november

[tony1234]

Yarde gets another undeserved title shot , be the same outcome too

[Ruthless-RKO]

Frank done him wonders in his career.

3 world title shots.. on the back of what?

Nothing.

Never fought anyone above British level other than the ones he lost to.

[black panther]

Frank done him wonders in his career.

3 world title shots.. on the back of what?

Nothing.

Never fought anyone above British level other than the ones he lost to.

Agreed it's kind of sad we don't actually know how good Yarde is. But I guess at the end of his career despite never beating anyone of note beyond British level, his bank balance will be greater than many world champions.

Gets stopped after six by Benevidez.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Frank done him wonders in his career.

3 world title shots.. on the back of what?

Nothing.

Never fought anyone above British level other than the ones he lost to.

Agreed it's kind of sad we don't actually know how good Yarde is. But I guess at the end of his career despite never beating anyone of note beyond British level, his bank balance will be greater than many world champions.

Gets stopped after six by Benevidez.

He was supposed to fight Buatsi, he didn't. instead fought Arthur a 3rd time.. and it was Cal who actually fought Buatsi and they gave us a cracking fight. Shame it was behind closed doors. Wonder what Eddeh will say..

Cal deserved this. but he's still WBO interim champion.

Wonder if Bivol drops the IBF instead of fighting Eifert and instead makes a mandatory defence against Cal?

[joshj909]

Yarde about to take only his third fight stepping up from British level straight to a title shot and he is going to, once again, get destroyed. What a ridiculous career he's had.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Yarde about to take only his third fight stepping up from British level straight to a title shot and he is going to, once again, get destroyed. What a ridiculous career he's had.

Does he got stopped like he did against Kovalev and Bert?

[joshj909]

Also, this is another example of Turki making terrible fights despite having the opportunity to make great or competitive ones that the fans want.

Yarde should be facing Buatsi. If not him then Parker.

Benavidez should be facing Smith if he is unable to face Bivol or Beterbiev.

There's nothing stopping him from making these fights other than bad decision making and the fans suffer despite him throwing money at the fighters.

[joshj909]

Yarde about to take only his third fight stepping up from British level straight to a title shot and he is going to, once again, get destroyed. What a ridiculous career he's had.

Does he got stopped like he did against Kovalev and Bert?

It's less likely but still probable. I imagine he loses nearly every round anyway.

[MightyWarrior]

Did I miss something, because going from memory yarde put up terrific fights against two of the hardest bastards in the sport. Kov was getting on, but still a demon and in Russia.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Did I miss something, because going from memory yarde put up terrific fights against two of the hardest bastards in the sport. Kov was getting on, but still a demon and in Russia.

Losing a world title fight doesn't mean you deserve another.

Who wouldn't fight their heart out in a world title fight. especially if you got the way he did..

[margaret thatcher]

i thought he did really well in losing to bert. from the start he boxed confidently, and actually showed a new side to him with some mobility and good boxing and countering rather than just walking forward and power clubbing. but the kov performance is overrated (i actually picked yarde to beat him too)

he had a big 1.5 round, with the huge 7th that makes everyone forget the prior rounds and strong first half of the 8th, but for the first 6 he was unspirited, looked overawed, and lost pretty much everything. 6-0 or maybe 5-1 at a push. he also gassed very quickly after opening up, even the old vodka fiend outlasted him. gave kov a scare for sure, wouldn't say he got destroyed (finish was conclusive though), but for me to say he put up a terrific fight i'd need to have seen far more from him over the first 6 rounds

losing in a good effort is worth something, but when that's pretty much all a fighter has done at a high level i can only rate it so high. what are his best wins? the list is pretty f@cking shallow. he couldve been in a lot more interestign fights than he has been. wouldve loved it as a boxing fan, though more losses could've made it harder for him to land these big fights that are more lucrative, i understand it from that pov

id be surprised if he doesnt lose this too obviously, benavidez too good

[Taansend]

Camp Lions!

[margaret thatcher]

it was cold that day and they were just getting close for warmth, that is obviously waht was happening there

[THEBUTCH]

Callum Smith has a last throw of the dice, rolls back the years with a tremendous performance and takes the spoils against Buatsi

Yarde takes the path of least resistance (as usual) against Lyndon Arthur

Yarde gets a crack at Benevidez

[a force]

I think you’re all making the mistake of presuming that Smith wanted the Benavidez fight. Everything I’ve heard from him & his brother Paul suggests he’s got his eyes on Bivol & expects to get that fight after the trilogy.

[Kilburn]

And so the pattern continues.

I’ll root for Yarde again naturally, but this looks far too big an ask.

[THEBUTCH]

a force, you may have a fair point. I just assumed Yarde had jumped the queue again

On reflection, as no in their right mind would consider anyone in the light heavyweight division to be the world champion other than Bivol, maybe this time Yarde would genuinely earn a world title shot if he can get past Benavidez.

[Bigdogsnose]

You could sort of see a way that Yarde was going to have some success agaist beterbiev. A bit of a fire fight, bert been hurt before. Callum johnson dropped him hard.

But he was always going to get beat, but with his stock going up in defeat.

This different altogether. This will be a beat down. Yarde wont be able to match Benavidez output and pressure.

A few have already said it, but perfect time for the buatsi fight (mind, not heard a peep from him since smith fight)

[Ruthless-RKO]

‘RING IV’ ANNOUNCED FOR NOVEMBER 22 IN RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA; TO FEATURE BENAVIDEZ-YARDE & HANEY-NORMAN

Turki Alalshikh officially announced the date for “Ring IV” through his X account Monday night.

The Ring’s next pay-per-view show has been scheduled for November 22 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As previously reported by The Ring, the loaded card is set to feature four 12-round world title fights in different divisions.

David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) will defend his WBC light heavyweight title against Anthony Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs). In the bout before Benavidez faces Yarde, Brian Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) will put his WBO welterweight title on the line versus Devin Haney (32-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC), a former undisputed lightweight champion.

Also November 22, Sam Noakes and Abdullah Mason will square off for the vacant WBO lightweight title.

Noakes (17-0, 15 KOs) is the WBO’s No. 1-ranked contender in the lightweight division. Mason (19-0, 17 KOs) is ranked No. 2 by the WBO.

Noakes and Mason will fight for the WBO belt Keyshawn Davis gave up on the scale June 6, when he came in 4.3 pounds overweight for an optional title defense against Edwin De Los Santos the next night at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, Davis’ hometown. The Davis-De Los Santos fight was canceled because De Los Santos’ former promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, considered it too dangerous for the Dominican southpaw to fight someone so much heavier than him.

“Ring IV” could also feature a long-discussed fight to determine boxing’s undisputed junior bantamweight champion. If favored Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs), who owns the The Ring and WBC 115-pound crowns, beats WBO champ Phumelela Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs) on July 19 in Frisco, Texas, Rodriguez will battle IBF and WBA champ Fernando Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs) on November 22.

A press conference to formally announce “Ring IV” has been scheduled for 1 p.m. ET Friday at Hard Rock Times Square in New York. It will be streamed live on The Ring’s social media channels.

The “Ring IV” press conference will follow the ceremonial weigh-in for “Ring III,” the DAZN Pay-Per-View event scheduled to take place Saturday night at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[THEBUTCH]

I thought Benavidez was WBC "interim" champion.....which means he isn't a world champion at all....it's Bivol

[Ruthless-RKO]

I thought Benavidez was WBC "interim" champion.....which means he isn't a world champion at all....it's Bivol

Nope. He’s now FULL champion.