Anthony Yarde believes he could put himself in the running to take on a superstar of the sport, Canelo Alvarez, next year.
Next month Yarde will challenge the formidable David Benavidez for the WBC light-heavyweight world title.
Benavidez, a world champion now at both light-heavy and super-middleweight, has never lost a professional bout.
But if Yarde is victorious, he’ll put himself in line for more high-profile fights, which he thinks could include Canelo Alvarez.
“We will see. Someone like Canelo? I think Canelo would want to come back and [think:] ‘I can beat this guy,'” Yarde told Sky Sports. “‘He lost to [Sergey] Kovalev. I knocked out Kovalev.’ Do you know what I’m saying?
“No one knows where this storyline can go,” he continued. “Imagine that. Anthony Yarde versus Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. It would be crazy.”
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Anthony Yarde battled past a tough Lyndon Arthur to seal victory in two of their three meetings
Yarde has embraced challenges in his career. He travelled to Russia to box Kovalev in a world title fight, with Canelo then fighting the winner afterwards.
He took on former undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev in an exciting shootout in London and now hopes that he can become a world titlist at his third attempt.
“This is the reason I got into the sport. To have the biggest and best fights available. It’s just in my character,” Yarde said.
“These kind of fights excite me. The same way I feel like I could have won that Beterbiev fight, it’s little, little adjustments. I’m going in with a mindset that I can beat David Benavidez.
“David Benavidez has been exceptional. Some people are saying Canelo avoided him. He’s taken a lot of fighters’ undefeated record. He’s fought top opposition. All the credentials in the world. These are the kind of things that motivate me.”
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Anthony Yarde knocked down Ralfs Vilcans with the first punch of their light-heavyweight fight
He reckons that victory in this fight would put him into pound-for-pound consideration.
“I think he’s on the pound-for-pound list,” Yarde said of his next opponent. “Again that’s motivation for me because this will be two people I’ve fought that are on the current pound-for-pound list.
“It would be a crazy thing to see Anthony Yarde on a Ring magazine pound-for-pound list by beating David Benavidez.
“That’s the reason I got into boxing, to push the limits and see just how far I can go to be the best.”
Domestic rivals?
In his last outing, Yarde picked up a solid 12-round victory in a trilogy fight with Lyndon Arthur.
The prospects though of him taking on London rival Joshua Buatsi, or moving up to cruiserweight to box opponents like Chris Billam-Smith or Viddal Riley, are on the back burner.
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Speaking on the Toe2Toe podcast, Anthony Yarde reveals he tried to make a potential fight with Joshua Buatsi, but domestic rival chose Callum Smith instead
“I want to fight the best in the world. The big names in the world. If the world champions are British, then so be it,” Yarde said.
“That why I take these world title fights or fight these big fights. Cruiserweight isn’t screaming nothing to me right now.
“That’s just my mentality,” he continued. “I feel like the bigger names are at light-heavyweight, that’s why I’m at light-heavyweight.
“How I am and how I’ve always been: there’s a challenge, cool, I bet I beat you. I bet I win.”