A SPECTACULAR SEQUEL ON THE CARDS
By Frank Warren
REMATCHES AREN’T ALWAYS all they are cracked up to be, but I truly believe we are in for something special when Lyndon Arthur and Anthony Yarde play it again at the Copper Box Arena on December 4.
First time around – which will be pretty much a year ago by the time the fight comes around – expectations were high but the fight didn’t really catch fire in the way we anticipated. It was absorbing and compelling, but not spectacular.
Looking back, I put a big part of that down to the fact that only a handful of friends and family were in attendance at Church House and this removed any fizz from the occasion. We were still in the thick of the lockdown period and wanted to still deliver the big fights to BT Sport subscribers, but it just wasn’t the same.
For the sequel we have booked the atmospheric Copper Box Arena – where there isn’t a bad seat in the house – and I feel certain that both Lyndon and Anthony will be galvanised and inspired by their supporters roaring their every move.
It will be far more of a spectacle and a fight like this deserves the full treatment.
There has been a bit of comment flying around asking why this fight is not taking place in Manchester in respect of Lyndon winning the first encounter.
The answer to it all is simple. There is one major venue in Manchester and it is not available.
If you remember, we planned for this fight to take place in October and, despite attempting to negotiate a ‘step-aside’, the arena was booked out and the gig wouldn’t shift. So we tried moving the fight to neutral territory in Birmingham but this was not accepted at the time.
You can ask anybody in the business of putting on events at the moment, the biggest problem is securing venues due to the backlog following the restrictions.
When all is said and done, a ring is a ring and when you are on the inside of an arena you could be anywhere. It is not like home advantage in football where the dimensions of the pitch are tailored to suit the home side and the away dressing room isn’t up to much. Also, tickets are available to all and not just home fans.
Any discontent will only serve to add a bit more spice to the occasion and certainly tensions were running high at the launch press conference on Tuesday, where there was plenty of friction between the respective trainers, Pat Barrett and Tunde Ajayi.
The coolest two people on the top table were Lyndon and Anthony because they both know they are in for a great fight and just want to get it on now.
The stakes are very high and the winner takes it all because he can expect to be fighting for a world title in 2022.
IT WAS GOOD to see Chris Eubank jr back in the ring last weekend with a win following the unimaginable pain of losing his younger brother recently.
He appears from his interviews to be fully focused on winning a world title and, indeed, he has several handy ratings across the governing bodies at middleweight should any of the champions decide to afford him a voluntary.
However, he has talked in the past about wanting to try his luck against the current top dog of the super middleweight division in Canelo, to prove himself against the very best.
Well, if he fancies the job, we can offer him a surefire shortcut to the pound-for-pound star where with one successful fight he could force the issue against the Mexican by making himself mandatory.
How about fighting Zach Parker, our super middleweight tank who holds the No.1 spot with the WBO and is himself awaiting the call to fight Canelo?
What a fight it would be! A genuine shootout with a huge prize on the line. Zach doesn’t want to just play the waiting game, he wants to fight against the best available opposition and an all-British dust-up against Eubank definitely fits the bill.
