A profit was secured in 2022, although the actually rate of successful winners was way below the mark I would have hoped. Narrowing the selections worked last year, but I still think there needs to be a little more done to close that further to try and improve the number of winners to losers.
Of course we are hitting markets that can produce big winners and that covers those losing selections, as proven last year, and balancing that approach with a stronger win-loss is the challenge to produce massive positive results.
We are already at the end of January, but I chose to avoid making selections from the first three cards of the year.
Much of that was down to trying to fine-tune the selection method, but practice is one thing, and reality can be much different.
There have been some solid fights already put together for the first half of the 2023 season and I will have a longer thread in the next Boxing Picks thread, which will hopefully be before the big Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara card set for mid-February. Much will depend on what kind of angles I can find, if any, but for now the focus is on the big fight taking place in London on Saturday.
Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde
There are one or two names in Boxing that may only be loved by the purists, but who are complete monsters of the sport.
One of those is Artur Beterbiev and as soon as it was announced he would be coming to London, this was an occasion that all Boxing fans should be looking to attend.
I will be there on Saturday evening as home hope Anthony Yarde has a second crack at winning a World Title after coming up short against Sergey Kovalev. That fight took place in Russia and Yarde was perhaps a punch or two away from ripping the World Title from the long time World Champion, but ultimately an Eleventh Round stoppage ended Yarde's hopes.
That bout was in August 2019 and it is disappointing to see that Anthony Yarde has only been out six times since then- one of those was a losing effort against Lyndon Arthur, although Yarde won the rematch decisively, and the Londoner has been guilty of long lay offs considering he has fought just once in 2022.
Anthony Yarde looks the part and I don't think anyone will doubt his power, but this is a massive step up compared with recent opponents and Artur Beterbiev has been operating at a much higher level.
Yes, he is 38 years old, and yes, he has not fought since June last year when blitzing Joe Smith Jr and that is largely down to Beterbiev dealing with injury.
However, there has been little sign this massive puncher has lost a step and Artur Beterbiev is looking to Unify the Light-Heavyweight Division over the next twelve months. All eighteen previous professional fights have ended in stoppage in favour of Beterbiev and he has been able to deal with any approach that opponents have brought into the ring.
If you want to box and move and stay out of trouble, Artur Beterbiev has shown his ring craft to closing off spaces and systematically broken opponents down and stopped them late.
On the other hand if you want a firefight, Artur Beterbiev has been happy to engage and ultimately closed the show very early.
My feeling is that Anthony Yarde believes plenty in his own power and I expect him to engage as early as he can.
Only Sergey Kovalev has avoided being stopped by Anthony Yarde and that kind of record means Yarde is unlikely to take an approach that he feels proved to be his downfall in narrowly losing the first fight with Lyndon Arthur. He returned to type in Knocking Out Arthur in Four Rounds in December 2021, and it feels like it would be a surprise to see this bout enter the second half of the contest with the styles of the two likely to blend very nicely.
Some have completely ruled out Anthony Yarde's chances, but everyone has a shot at the Light Heavyweight weight class. Callum Johnson did put Artur Beterbiev down early in his Fourth Round loss to the Russian in October 2018 and it felt like Johnson did hurt him that day (or angered him considering how soon Beterbiev closed the show).
Anthony Yarde showed some resiliency against Sergey Kovalev, but I think Artur Beterbiev is at a higher level than his compatriot right now and the World Champion may find the big punches in a shoot out to close this one inside the first half of the fight.
In other bouts on the card, I do think Artem Dalakian can make a strong return to the ring.
Inactivity can be an issue for any fighter and it may take a couple of Rounds to get back into the groove, but the Ukrainian may have enough to just about wear down David Jimenez in the second World Title bout on this card and Dalakian can earn a late stoppage.
I would be very surprised if Moses Itauma is not able to secure a win inside three minutes on his debut, while his brother Karol should also secure an early victory.
MY PICKS: Artur Beterbiev to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.10 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Artem Dalakian to Win Between 7-12 @ 6.00 Paddy Power (1 Unit)
Moses Itauma to Win in the First Round @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Karol Itauma to Win Between 1-5 @ 1.72 Sky Bet (2 Units)
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