Lyndon Arthur is determined to come out on top when he and Anthony Yarde settle their long running rivalry.

On April 26th, the British light heavyweights will meet in a rubber match on the undercard of the long delayed, controversial middleweight clash between Chris Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn. The fight will take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and be screened worldwide by DAZN.

In December 2021, Arthur, 24-2 (16 KOs), and Yarde, 26-3 (24 KOs), first met behind closed doors during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sizeable underdog, Arthur beat Yarde, literally, with one hand. After hurting his hand during the pre-fight warm up, he controlled the fight solely with his jab and boxed his way to a split decision win.

After some toing and froing, a rematch was finally agreed. Arthur seemed distracted and over confident whilst Yarde went about his preparation like a man possessed. Almost a year to the day after being beaten by the Mancunian, Yarde evened the score with a comprehensive fourth round stoppage.

The fighters went their separate ways and have each gone on to lose at the very highest level. In January 2023, Yarde suffered an eight round defeat to Artur Beterbiev in a bid for the Canadian-based Russian’s then unified light heavyweight titles whilst in December 2023, Arthur was outboxed over twelve rounds by then WBA champion, Dmitry Bivol.

Britain’s light heavyweight division is packed with names and whilst a trilogy between Yarde and Arthur wasn’t a match-up that immediately jumped out, it is a fight that will have stark consequences for both the winner and the loser.

The winner will keep themselves themselves right in the mix for another major fight. The loser will find themselves at the back of a very long queue.

In an interview with Boxing Now, Arthur made it clear that he is aware of the stakes and insists that he has learned from the mistakes he made ahead of the rematch.

“Yeah, I wanna win. I really wanna win,” he said.

“I had no fear. I just thought, ‘It is what it is.’ I didn’t believe he could beat me at any stage, just from how easy the first fight was for me. No disrespect. I just thought i’d have to turn up and I’d beat him. Didn’t really go to plan did it?

“I learned a valuable lesson. A valuable lesson.

“Don’t get hurt with body shots. I tried to rope-a dope-without the rope. Just a dope. Let’s not take anything away from him, he’s a good fighter. I didn’t believe that. He got my respect again like he did in the first fight.”

Arthur is a gifted fighter. He is also a naturally laid back character who needs a particular type of challenge to draw the best out of him.

He hasn’t boxed since last June when he won a hard earned split decision over Liam Cameron and has been waiting for the right challenge. The chance to get back int he ring with Yarde ticks all the right boxes.

The knowledge that Yarde is capable of beating him should he turn up at anything other than his best should provide the Manchester born 33 year-old with all the motivation he needs and he is also confident that the Londoner will approach the fight in exactly the same way as he did the rematch.

“I know what he’s gonna do,” Arthur said. “He has to do that. He has to come and do the same thing. Naturally, you would. They think it’s an easy fight and I know they think it’s an easy fight. They’re naturally gonna try and do that again.

“You beat me in four rounds. Fair play to you. If I beat him in four rounds, I’d think it was an easy fight as well. I understand the boxing game and I understand what I have to do.”