David Benavidez is set to make the first defense of his WBC light heavyweight title against Anthony Yarde in November, it was announced Thursday by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and president of the Saudi Boxing Federation.
The exact date and location of the bout, which will mark Benavidez’s Riyadh Season debut, have not been determined.
Benavidez, 28, has long been after a fight with undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez. However, with Alvarez showing little interest, Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) moved up to the light heavyweight division.
Benavidez made his debut in the weight class in June 2024 with a decision win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the vacant WBC interim light heavyweight title. He made his first successful defense of the interim title in February with a win over David Morrell.
Benavidez was elevated to full champion when the then-undisputed champion Dmitry Bivol opted for a third fight with Artur Beterbiev rather than fulfill the WBC’s request to defend the championship against the interim titleholder.
Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) will make his third attempt to win a world title. Fighting out of London, Yarde started his career 18-0 before suffering his first loss against Sergey Kovalev when he challenged for the WBO light heavyweight title in 2019. He fell short in his second attempt for championship gold when he was knocked out by Beterbiev in their January 2023 meeting for the WBC, IBF and WBO titles.
In his last outing, Yarde won a decision over Lyndon Arthur on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn in April.
Source: espn.com