Anthony Yarde faces Lyndon Arthur at the Royal Albert Hall tonight as he continues on his comeback trail.

Yarde suffered a damaging loss to Sergey Kovalev in August 2019, but has claimed victory in back-to-back fights this year to rebuild his confidence and move towards another light-heavyweight world title shot.

Now he’ll be back in the ring for the third time in 2020 to take on Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion Arthur.

Yarde will be eager to show he is back to his best and then look forward to a successful 2021 but that won’t be easy against the unbeaten Arthur.

Both men beat Dec Spelman in their last fights.

Yarde vs Arthur was initially made to be co-main event to the Dubois Joyce Pay-Per-View and then the Tyson Fury-Agit Kabayel fight on the same date it will now get the opportunity to headline its own event.

Yarde v Arthur: Date and time

This 12-round light-heavyweight bout will take place on Saturday, December 5 and is being held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The ring walks are expected from 10pm UK time but that will depend on the undercard results.

Willy Hutchinson will face Lennox Clarke for the vacant Commonwealth Middleweight Title on the night.

Yarde v Arthur: TV channel and live stream

Yarde 2020.12.05 Westminster, London, UK Discussion Main Event Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Title 175 lbs Lyndon Arthur defeats Anthony Yarde via 12 Round Decision. Yarde v Arthur: TV channel and live stream The fight will be shown on BT Sport 1 with coverage starting at 7:30pm. The show will be live streamed on BT Sport’s website and app. Yarde vs Arthur. No tickets on sales. Live on BT Sport. 5 December 2020. The application is now closed. The application is now closed. LYNDON ARTHUR will make the second defence of his Commonwealth Light-Heavyweight championship against Anthony Yarde on Saturday December 5 in another huge night of boxing on BT Sport.

The fight will be shown on BT Sport 1 with coverage starting at 7:30pm.

The show will be live streamed on BT Sport’s website and app.

EE mobile customers can get a FREE three-month trial of BT Sport by texting SPORT to 150.

You can then cancel the trial at any time.

Yarde v Arthur: Undercard

The card includes a super bantamweight battle with the WBC International title at stake between Michael Ramabeletsa (18-17, 8KOs) and the unbeaten Southern Area champion Chris Bourke (8-0, 5KOs).

Bantamweight starlet Dennis McCann (7-0, 5KOs) takes on Pedro Matos (7-3) over eight rounds.

Olympian Muhammad Ali has his second fight in the pro ranks and there is a debut for Olympic Youth gold medallist Karol Itauma.

• Anthony Yarde v Lyndon Arthur – Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Title
• Willy Hutchinson v Lennox Clarke – vacant Commonwealth Middleweight Title and vacant BBBofC British Middleweight Title
• Michael Ramabeletsa v Chris Bourke – vacant WBO International Bantamweight Title
• Dennis McCann v Pedro Matos
• Muhammad Ali v TBA
• Sam Noakes v TBA
• Karol Itauma v TBA

Yarde v Arthur: Tale of the tape

Yarde – Arthur

Nationality: British – British

Age: 29 – 26

Height: 6ft – 6ft 2

Stance: Orthodox – Orthodox

Reach: 72in – 74in

Record: 20/1/0 – 17/0/0

KOs: 19 – 12

Rounds: 64 – 94

Debut: 9/5/2015 – 24/9/2016

The eagerly anticipated ’Seek and Destroy’ showdown between Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce at the o2 Arena on April 11 now has a blockbuster chief support in place with Anthony Yarde set to take on the unbeaten Lyndon Arthur.

In what is another huge domestic duel, Yarde - who lost out in a world title challenge to Sergey Kovalev on away soil in August of last year - goes in with Manchester’s former Team GB product and Commonwealth champion Arthur in what is certain to be a pulsating collision of big-punching light heavyweights.

Prior to his venture to Chelyabinsk - Kovalev’s home town - Yarde had stopped all but one of his previous opponents and worked his way to the No.1 position with the WBO, winning the Southern Area, WBO European and WBO Intercontinental titles along the way.

Before this, the explosive 28-year-old known as ’The Beast’ had not been taken beyond seven rounds and he currently holds a 90 per cent KO-ratio. Yarde’s ring record stands at 19-1 (18 KOs).

Decorated amateur Arthur, also 28, has registered 12 KOs from his 16 professional fights and won his Commonwealth crown last time out against Emmanuel Anim in December.

Trained by Pat Barrett at the Collyhurst and Moston Gym, ’King Arthur’ has long considered himself the dark horse of the currently hot division and was patiently awaiting a breakthrough opportunity against one of the marquee domestic light heavyweights.

His wait is nearly over and we can expect a fascinating clash between a vastly experienced former amateur star and one who exploded onto the scene and thrived despite a limited amateur background.

Further title action comes in the form of a British welterweight championship rematch between Chris Jenkins (22-3-3, 8 KOs) from Garnant in Wales and ’The Pexican’, Peckham’s Johnny Garton (21-2-1, 10 KOs).

The pair met in March 2019 when Garton was champion - having won the belt in a thriller against Gary Corcoran - at the Royal Albert Hall. Jenkins prevailed via the scorecards after an enthralling encounter and now he makes his third defence, having clocked up a victory over Paddy Gallagher and a technical draw last time out with Liam Taylor, where the fight was stopped due to a severe cut.

WBO European super featherweight champion Archie Sharp (18-0, 9 KOs) will be in title action at the o2, along with the WBO European super welterweight champion Hamzah Sheeraz (10-0, 6 KOs).

Yarde Vs Arthur Highlights

’Sharpshooter’ Sharp clinched his champion status in October 2018 with the defeat of the then unbeaten Lyon Woodstock in Leicester. He has since made three successful defences of his title and has broken into the top-five of the WBO world rankings.

Sheeraz, just 20, won his belt with an impressive stoppage of Birmingham’s experienced campaigner Ryan Kelly in November.

Yarde Vs Arthur Johnson

Also featuring on the stacked Dubois-Joyce undercard is big-hitting middleweight Denzel Bentley (12-0, 10 KOS), top heavyweight prospect and Tyson Fury sparring partner David Adeleye (1-0, 1 KO) and precocious bantamweight talent Dennis McCann (6-0, 4 KOs).

Yarde Vs Arthur Brown

McCann’s Queensberry iBox Gym teammates Sam Noakes (3-0, 3 KOs), Henry Turner (2-0) and Micky Burke jr (3-0) join him on the big show.