WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) came through a war with Anthony “The Beast from the East” Yarde (23-3, 22 KOs) to keep his 100% knockout ratio in tact in stopping the hometown fighter in the eighth round on Saturday night in London’s OVO Arena.

Yarde started superbly to put early rounds in the bank but by the third Beterbiev had found his range to land some heavy artillery.

Yarde stayed true to his word, exchanging shots with Beterbiev to bring the London crowd to their feet. The Russian put a succession of shots together in the fifth as the pace continued at an high rate. Both fighters were cut by the sixth but it just served to spur both fighters on in search for a nights closer.

Beterbiev would be the man to find such a shot, landing a jarring right hand that dropped Yarde. The hometown fighter made it to his feet with the look of defeat as the bout was stopped shortly after. Time was 2:01.

Yarde was up on two cards entering the eighth round. Scores were 68-65, 67-66 Yarde, 67-66 Beterbiev.

“Every fight is different. If I did it again I would want to do better” said Beterbiev.

‘Everyone in this category can punch hard. Anthony did too. He’s young.. he has time. I hope he does well in the future.

‘To be honest, every punch we prepared for’ said the victor when asked about the power of Yarde ‘That’s why I came back. We expect that, that’s why I won.’