Anthony Yarde will have a third crack at world title honours as David Benavidez makes the first defence of his WBC light heavyweight belt in his Riyadh Season debut come November.

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has today announced on X that after months of speculation over Benavidez's next move, he will face two-time title challenger Yarde. The exact date and venue will be confirmed later.

Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) recovered from a sluggish start to outpoint Lyndon Arthur and settle their trilogy on the Chris Eubank Jr-Conor Benn undercard at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 26. Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) emerged unscathed from a thrilling firefight with contender David Morrell two months earlier, in his second bout at 175lbs.

This latest development comes after negotiations with WBO interim light heavyweight champion Callum Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) had been ongoing as far back as April, with the Liverpudlian's promoter Eddie Hearn confirming he'd been in touch with Benavidez's management team about scheduling that fight in the final quarter of 2025.

Smith has been in Istanbul, Turkey, this week for the IBA's latest Pro event and spoke publicly as late as Wednesday night about renewed optimism they could get a deal done — provided the financials were right and all parties were in agreement on a suitable fight date.

Yarde suffered a career-first defeat in August 2019, falling short but earning credit aplenty after Sergey Kovalev scored an 11th-round stoppage win to retain the WBO world title.

Three-and-a-half years later, he gave then-unbeaten champion Artur Beterbiev all he could handle during an absorbing contest but again fell short, losing via eighth-round stoppage.

In two-and-a-half years since then, he has only boxed four times and largely against low-level opposition before ending an unexpected Arthur series victorious. The 33-year-old is The Ring's No. 4-ranked contender, while Benavidez sits at No. 2 after impressive decision victories over Oleksandr Gvodzyk and Morrell to kickstart his light heavyweight campaign.

He was ringside in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to watch Dmitry Bivol outpoint Beterbiev on Feb. 22 with tentative plans to face the victor next. Instead, with the pair deadlocked at one apiece after two fights, a trilogy is mooted to finish their own much-anticipated rivalry.

Bivol relinquished the WBC strap and Benavidez subsequently elevated from interim titleholder in the aftermath, once it became clear that matchup wouldn't be next. Wednesday, the IBF ordered Bivol to make a long overdue defence against Michael Eiffert (13-1, 5 KOs) and it remains to be seen whether he will drop another belt, though the division moves on.