CALLING THE SHOTS
of the things you feel he does well? DB: Honestly, I think Anthony Yarde is a great fighter. I’ve been watching him before he fought [Sergey] Kovalev [in August 2019], because I knew in my head that one day I was going to fight him. He’s a good fighter. He has good reflexes. He has good defense. He has good feints, good hooks. He’s going to come to fight. I know exactly how he’s going to come at me. So instead of being nervous, I know the amount of excitement I’m going to give the fans. This is going to be my big moment. I feel this is finally my moment in the big leagues, being on Riyadh Season. I’ve been training this whole time. I have had five months to prepare for this camp, and I feel like this is going to be the start of my career, to be honest with you. In the next five years, I want to say that I took over the game and I became the face of boxing. It’s not going to be easy. There are a lot of fighters that I have to go through. Nothing in this life is easy. And I love challenges. It will be two warriors going to war. I won’t step back. The Ring: Do you think Yarde does anything that can hurt you? DB: At this level, anything can hurt you. One wrong move, one wrong defense – all these fighters are good. It’s why we are at this level. He’s strong. He hurt Beterbiev a couple of times. Who am I to say with one good shot, I can’t get hurt? I’ll do everything in my power to do a lot of neck workouts to make sure I strengthen my chin as much as possible. Yarde is dangerous at every level. He has a lot of experience. He has power, and he’s hungry. This is going to be his third attempt at a world title. It might be his last attempt. He will come with everything. I can’t wait to showcase my skills.
DB: I can dominate him with my inside game. I have a great inside game. I can dominate him with the jab. I can dominate him with my speed. I can dominate him with my head movement. There are a lot of things that I do that opponents don’t realize until they get into the ring with me. I beat David Morrell in every category – defense, offense, speed, power – and he didn’t think that could happen. I am still learning a lot and am a student of the game. Everything I learn from each one of my fights goes into the next fight. Everyone is going to see a whole different animal against Yarde. The Ring: It seems like there are some world-class fighters who think they have nothing left to learn. DB: When fighters think like that, that’s when they go downhill. I know for me, every single day I watch hours of boxing. I mean hours and hours. I pride myself on being a student of the game. I’m still in the learning process, trying to pick up as much as possible. I try to keep my mind sharp every single day. I have a lot of different boxers that I like to watch and that motivate me. I try something new every day, learning new skills. It’s just me. I can’t speak for other fighters. I know a lot of fighters are burnt out. I want to be the greatest of my generation, and to do that, I not only have to train hard, I have to study. The Ring: Yarde has a history of fighting to the level of his opposition. What’s your best approach against him? DB: My best approach will be using a lot of the jab and keeping the distance. When I’m inside, rip the body. I have to be the same fighter I am. I’ve seen a lot of boxing styles, and I don’t let anything overwhelm me. I know he will come at me trying to use a lot of power. He will come in looking for a big shot, but I have a lot of things to counter those. If he leaves himself too open, or one wrong move, I’m going to be there.
The Ring: What do you feel your advantages are, going into that fight?
The Ring: How do you see the fight playing out?
Benavidez steamrolled his way to a decision win over Caleb Plant.
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