'Showman' Yarde targets Buatsi fight after lay-off

Anthony Yarde says he wants to fight Joshua Buatsi or Artur Beterbiev in the near future as he prepares to make his return to the ring on Saturday.

The light-heavyweight has spent nine months on the sidelines, due to a "contractual dispute" with his long-time promoters Queensberry.

Yarde, 33, makes his return against Ralfs Vilcans on the undercard of Adam Azim v Ohara Davies, an event promoted by Ben Shalom's Boxxer.

Speaking at a news conference Yarde dismissed criticism about his opponent, who is unheralded and has fought most of his pro career in his home country of Latvia.

"I want to be in the ring. Everyone is going to have their opinion on the level I should be fighting, or the fight, or how big the fight should be," Yarde said.

"I want the biggest fights out there. That's Joshua Buatsi, that's Beterbiev 2, that's [Dmitry] Bivol."

Yarde has a loss on his record to the newly crowned undisputed champion Beterbiev in 2023.

Beterbiev stopped Yarde in a defence of his world title before going on to beat Bivol in their undisputed contest last Saturday.

Yarde failed in his first world title attempt in 2019, but expects another opportunity and said "three's the charm".

Queensberry's Frank Warren has not commented on Yarde's fight with Boxxer, but Shalom said the Englishman has not signed a long-term promotional deal.

"We don't have many genuine superstars that can capture the attention as mainstream stars and Anthony Yarde is one of them," Shalom said.

"There's Josh Buatsi, there's Ben Whittaker, there's Anthony Yarde all in the domestic light-heavyweight scene [in the UK].

"You can expect a showman. There's not many fighters, if any, in the division that can fight the way Anthony Yarde can fight. He is a super talent."