The assistant trainer of WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev 18-0 (18) has praised the Russian boxer’s work ethic and anointed him the number one guy at 175-pounds.
While many fans and pundits have that position reserved for WBA kingpin Dmitry Bivol 21-0 (11) following his stellar 2022 that saw him outpoint Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 58-2-2 (39) and top contender Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez 44-1 (30), John Scully disagrees.
“Twelve rounds is a long time to be in there with this man,” Scully said to Thoughts of the Pugilist.
“He puts pressure on. Sometimes in a subtle manner and sometimes it’s obvious, but it’s really, really hard to stay with this guy mentally twelve rounds.
“I can’t see him losing. He’s the best light heavyweight in the world at this point. Not just the best, but the strongest. He’s the strongest punching. He has so many things on his side.
“It does because he keeps you on your toes more than most other fighters because he wants you engaged. He wants you paying attention. He wants you telling him what he’s doing.
“At the same time, he’s not someone that you have to watch. You don’t have to make sure [Beterbiev does the work].
“If you told him, ‘make sure you do the sit-ups’ he would be insulted. He knows to do the sit-ups. He knows everything he has to do.”
Beterbiev, 37, will defend his three world championship belts against England’s Anthony Yarde 23-2 (22) at Wembley Stadium in London on January 28. The 31-year-old Yarde is a fellow punches who has been the distance just twice – once in a four rounder in his second pro fight and in a split decision loss to Lyndon Arthur 21-1 (15) in December 2020. Yarde knocked out Arthur in four rounds in their rematch one year later.
The only other loss on Yarde’s ledger was to then-WBO champion Sergey Kovalev 35-4-1 (29) when he was stopped in the penultimate round in August 2019.
But despite his credentials and obvious punching power, Scully says he isn’t the least bit concerned with what he brings to the ring.
“It doesn’t make no difference to me what your problem is. I don’t care about you. We just want to win. Whatever it entails, that what we’re ready to do,” Scully said to Boxing with Ivan Montiel.
“I think Yarde is a good fighter. He presents problems. The only people I see saying Yarde is going to win are people from the UK.
“With that said, Yarde is a good fighter. I’ve been watching him. He’s tricky. He’s better than what people give him credit for and it’s a real fight. We have to be on our game to beat him for sure.
“Yarde can be stylistically difficult, but ultimately, Artur brings issues to him that I don’t think Yarde is going to overcome. If I was to bet on it, that’s what I would bet that is going to happen.”
