Anthony Yarde was knocked out by David Benavidez and spent a full year on the shelf. Somehow, his reward could be an immediate crack at a world title. Frank Warren is considering using Yarde for Willy Hutchinson’s first WBC light heavyweight title defense in March, effectively granting him championship access without the burden of winning an eliminator.

Hutchinson had to go through the fire with Joshua Buatsi across two fights to capture the vacant belt. Yarde, meanwhile, might walk directly into the challenger’s corner coming off a stoppage defeat and twelve months of inactivity. What has Yarde done since Benavidez demolished him to justify cutting to the front of the line? Nothing inside the ring. His entire argument is built on name recognition and the equity of older wars.

Warren was open about the option on talkSPORT Boxing: “Anthony Yarde was in the ring. I don’t know where we’re going to go with that one. We’ll see if we can agree terms. That’s something we may consider as well.”

Casual British fight fans recognize Yarde from his past encounters with Benavidez, Artur Beterbiev, and Sergey Kovalev. That name value makes him infinitely simpler to sell to television buyers than a high-risk contender like Albert Ramirez. If the WBC blesses a voluntary defense and numbers make sense, Warren converts Hutchinson’s hard-won triumph into a profitable domestic event. If Hutchinson retains, he collects a marquee domestic scalp. If Yarde pulls it off, Warren crowns a long-tenured in-house headliner.

The timing also plays directly into Hutchinson’s hands. Yarde carries sufficient power to make Hutchinson pay if he retreats into the ropes, but Hutchinson possesses the footwork to keep Yarde turning. Forcing Yarde to reset his base prevents him from sitting down on heavy bursts. As the rounds wear on, Yarde faces the grueling reality of sustaining hard combination punching over twelve rounds after such a protracted layoff.

The commercial logic is obvious. The sporting logic is nonexistent. A tune-up win would establish what Yarde has left after the Benavidez beating. Under Warren’s plan, Yarde could skip that test and answer the question with a world title on the line.

Danny Garcia has faced a plethora of dangerous punchers, including Errol Spence Jr, yet ‘The Truth’ is not even considered among his hardest-hitting opponents.

Instead, ‘Swift’ claims he experienced more pronounced power against Keith Thurman, who he faced in his first WBC world welterweight title defence in 2017.

Ultimately, Garcia lost a split decision after giving a strong account of himself, before losing another tight verdict against Shawn Porter the following year.

The American was then presented with a second chance to reclaim his WBC belt in 2020, only to suffer a clear unanimous decision defeat against Spence.

But while Thurman was perhaps the biggest puncher he faced at 147lbs, the power was on another level when Garcia challenged WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara in 2024.

Back then, Garcia had just ended a two-year layoff and, in his first outing at 160lbs, was contending with a significant size disadvantage against his skilled opponent.

In the end, Lara scored a dominant ninth-round stoppage, with Garcia telling YSM Sports Media that the Cuban, along with Thurman and Lucas Martin Matthysseare the three biggest punchers he has ever faced.

“I would say Matthysse, Thurman and Lara might be the biggest punchers I’ve faced. I don’t know if it was my layoff, or whatever, but every time [Lara] hit me, I felt it.

“I don’t know if it was the layoff or the weight, but he was strong.”

Defending his WBC title down at 140lbs, Garcia unanimously outpointed Matthysse in 2013 after scoring an 11th-round knockdown in what was a largely competitive contest.

After chasing Canelo Alvarez for the best part of two years, David Benavidez now hopes another super-middleweight can be granted his shot at the Mexican.

Ultimately, Benavidez was never presented with the chance to become a three-time world champion at 168lbs, despite making two defences of his WBC ‘interim’ title.

As a result, many have blamed Canelo for consistently ducking the ‘Mexican Monster’ who, as a unified cruiserweight champion, is now even less likely to face the modern pound-for-pound great.

But while recognising that his own ship has sailed, Benavidez nonetheless hopes that former world middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly can secure his opportunity.

The unbeaten Uzbek vacated his WBO title at 160lbs earlier this year, having previously been stripped of his IBF belt after testing positive for banned substance meldonium in November 2025.

Nevertheless, the 33-year-old became the WBO’s mandatory challenger at 168lbs, only for Hamzah Sheeraz to vacate his strap after their ordered bout went to a purse bid hearing.

Instead, Alimkhanuly will face fellow unbeaten contender Jacob Bank for the vacant title on January 23, when a victory could place him in the Canelo sweepstakes for 2027.

Speaking with Fight Hub TVBenavidez said he sincerely hopes, but remains doubtful, that their unification match materialises.

“The only fight that I would love to see [Canelo in]which would be a great fight, [is against] Janibek. But I don’t think that would ever happen.”

Most seem to be highlighting Sheeraz as a more likely opponent for Canelo, who reclaimed his WBC title by unanimously outpointing and dethroning Christian Mbilli last month.