Fight preview and predictions: Anthony Yarde vs Dec Spelman plus undercard

Former world champion Anthony Yarde returns to the ring against 'Kid Nytro' Dec Spelman along with middleweight clash between Mark Heffron and Denzel Bentley

'The Beast' Anthony Yarde returns to action on Saturday night against former British champion Dec Spelman in a light-heavyweight bout behind closed-doors at the BT Sports Studio in London live on BT Sport 1.

Victory in the fight is likely to set up a highly anticipated clash against undefeated Lyndon Arthur in a Queensberry stable match-up, but Spelman has never been stopped, and will look to show his steely determination to cause a shock against a top-level fighter.

BBN Editor Ben Davies previewed the exciting Frank Warren card:

Main Event:

Anthony Yarde vs Dec Spelman

Anthony Yarde (19-1, 18KOs) will take on Dec Spelman (16-4, 8KOs) in a domestic clash that see's 'The Beast from the East' return to the ring after last taking on Diego Jair Ramirez back in February, trying to continue his comeback to the top level after losing in a sensational world title bout with Sergey Kovalev in August 2019.

Yarde will look to continue his superb knockout record against Spelman, but the tough fighter from Scunthorpe will be keen to take the Londoner into the deep end, just like he did with Yarde's potential future opponent Lyndon Arthur, who he went 12 rounds with back in July losing on the judge's scorecards back in July losing rather narrowly with the fight scored at 113-116 by one card at the previous Queensberry show.

Trained by Carl Greaves, Spelman was a constant threat throughout the fight against Arthur despite the defeat, but failed to get behind the superb jab of Arthur who caused a great deal of damage to the face of Spelman by round six, but he continued to come forward with his hands up and try to take the fight to Arthur. However the 28-year-old could not land a series of clean shots, and ultimately came up short but showed his resolute atttitude and tremendous guard.

The 29-year-old Ilford based Yarde has shown in a recent fight with Sergey Kovalev that he is more than capable of competing at world-title level, coming so close to stopping the fight in Round 8 despite being largely down on the scorecards, but could not find the killer instinct to finish the fight, and was punished by a second period of pressure from Kovalev who stopped Yarde with a great left hand, stopping Yarde for the first defeat of his career.

However, Yarde will be confident that he can impose his agressive fighting style against Spelman, using his superb power and range that will be likely to inflict more damage than that of Lyndon Arthur during the fight, and can now draw on the high-level experience of the Kovalev fight to work the angles and try to become the first man to stop Spelman since he was dropped at the Ultimate Boxxer contest back in 2018 against Shakan Pitters.

The 6'0 light-heavyweight will be extremely keen to return to the world stage after defeat, and has already fought in 2020 with a routine win stoppage win against Diego Ramirez in February, but may hold a slight disadvantage with Spelman having competed more recently, so ring-rust may play a small factor.

Conversely, Yarde is a tremendous athlete who has only been taken into the latter stages of the round in his recent fight with Sergey Kovalev, and will be keen to apply consistent pressure onto Spelman early on to do exactly what he has done to several opponents throughout his superb professional career to date such as Nikola Sejloca.

Former world champion Yarde will look to use his heavy hands to try and force a stoppage for the first time here, looking to boost his 90% knockout ratio and after going through a bad personal spell during the lockdown period, will have extra motivation to gain the victory here, but also vows to entertain the fans and outdo rival Lyndon Arthur.

He said: "“Sometimes you just say what is on your mind, I just made the comment that I was very bored watching the fight, who do I send the invoice to. But all jokes aside, if it was me in there and Spelman was just walking forward taking shots, he wouldn’t have lasted that long.”

Prediction:
Anthony Yarde has a superb knockout ratio and a very powerful style that could leave Spelman reeling after struggling to cope with the tremendous jab of lyndon Arthur in his previous run-out. The Scunthorpe fighter has a tremendous guard and chin however which could make it extremely difficult for Yarde to land penetrating shots, but Yarde has a superb top-level pedigree having gone to the latter stages with Kovalev, and it is likely that the Londoner will try to force a stoppage in order to make a statement ahead of a potential domestic clash with Arthur so may end the fight between round's four and seven.

Co-main event:
Mark Heffron vs Denzel Bentley

A highly anticipated domestic middleweight clash, Mark Heffron will take on Denzel Bentley in a battle to maintain Bentley's undefeated record and move onto the next level with Heffron a superb middleweight who will be looking to have a second opportunity at prevailing at a high domestic level having only been defeated by Liam Williams back in December 2012 in a British title fight.

'Kid Dynamite' cannot be taken lightly into the fight on a superb run of consecutive victories, two via stoppage and twoby unanimous decision on the scorecards, and the Oldham fighter has a superb top level pedigree having fought in 27 bouts to date, and experiencing world-level competition having been former WBC international titlist at middleweight.

The fight will impose two contrasting styles against each other, with Heffron possessing a great-all-round technique and will look to be sharp throughout and throw a great volume of punches to try and assert control and experience on the fight. He also uses his jab extremely well and will look to create distance and a steady tempo to try and gain a foothold on the judge's scorecards.

The 25-year-old Bentley has exploded onto the scene in recent months, with fast and unorthodox hands showing that he is capable of catching any opponent that he may come against, aswell a superb ability to switch stance and come again as a plan B, which he has shown after being supremely tested by Mick Hall earlier in his career. He was able to take a heavy blow and mix up his approach to regain a foothold in the fight whichhe may need again should he be vulnerable to a heavy shot from his Oldham opponent. Bentley also has an impressive capacity to counter which has been displayed during his previous bouts, so will be extremely likely to look for a knockout already boasting a tremendous knock-out rate.

Battersea fighter Bentley has an unorthodox style with a huge range of mixed shots, which will no-doubt raise uncertainty around the outcome of the fight, and boxes with style and grace with heavy hands and works well from the hips, so could be an awkward customer from Heffron should he be able to land some damaging shots at different stanzas of the fight.

'Too Sharp' has already shown his explosive and powerful approach in the ring throughout his career, and his arbitary technique has lead to an unpredictable build up to the fight, with the outcome almost impossible to discover until the early stages of the fight have taken place, and we will see whether Heffron can withstand the unforessable and impose his experience and control.

It is a highly anticipated fight due to it's uncalculable propsect as a fight, which could end with a range of different outcomes. However we may see a dominant looking performance from Heffron who will be keen to assert his experience, but Bentley's ferocious power and counter-punching technique will continue to create a threat so could go either way, but Bentley will have that extra-desire to maintain his unbeaten record and allow for the progress of his career onto the International stage, with the winner of this domestic bout picking up the European middleweight title.

Undercard:
The vacant IBF European welterweight championship will be on the line for English champion Ekow Essuman when he goes in with the Frenchman Cedrick Peynaud. The Paris-based Peynaud took part in two epic struggles against Connor Benn across 2017-18 where both men were put to the canvas and it represents an ideal test for Essuman, who is in the British title mix along with Benn and the champion Chris Jenkins. Essuman will be looking to maintain his undefeated record against a resolute Peynaud who has been highly touted as the next British welterweight star by promoter Frank Warren.

Elsewhere cousin of Tyson Fury Joshua Frankham make his debut at super-welterweight, while Amin Jahanzeb (7-0 2KO'S) will be looking to begin positively in the Frank Warren Queensbery stable.

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