ANTHONY YARDE has vowed to fight on in honour of his beloved amateur trainer Tony Cesay – who has fallen ill ahead of his world title shot.
The East Londoner challenges for David Benavidez’s light-heavyweight gold on Saturday in Saudi Arabia – live on DAZN PPV .
Anthony Yarde’s amateur coach Tony Cesay, right, is battling motor neurone disease
Cesay has helped shape several careers, including Yarde’s
Yarde’s former coach James Cook also sadly passed away in 2025Credit: Queensberry Promotions
He does so in the same year MBE James Cook – a former European champion and coach of Yarde’s –
And Cesay – Yarde’s first trainer – is also facing a fight after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease – which affects nerves in your brain and spinal cord.
But Yarde – before fighting months later – knows better than to put pressure on winning the belt for his two mentors.
He told SunSport: “I’m not going in there thinking, ‘I need to win a world title for them.’ Or anything like that.
“And I’m sure they wouldn’t want me to be thinking that as well. It adds pressure, we’ve seen it time and time again when people feel or think like that, they under perform.
“I’ve just got to go out there, relax, do my thing, because I want to win this world title anyway. I want to beat David Benavidez anyway.
“So that’s not going to be on my mind. I don’t personally think, and it’s shown, it’s good when you’re feeling emotional about death and to take it into fights.”
Cesay represented the iconic Repton Amateur Boxing Club but it was his work moulding the careers of several fighters which he is most famed for.
And Cook – who also held the British super-middleweight title – joined Yarde’s camp in 2021 following his loss to Lyndon Arthur a year prior – cornering him to victory.
Cook – who passed away aged 66 in June after a cancer battle – for services to youth justice in Hackney.
At Buckingham Palace he
Paying tribute to his former trainers, Yarde said: “It’s a sad thing. I’d rather just talk about their legacy.
“James Cook, he’s gone already, Tony Cesay, he reminds me every time I speak to him, he’s not got long left but he’s proud of me.
“I get emotional with him on the phone but it’s what they’ve done for the community. The stamp they’ve left on the community, for me, people that are doing so well in different journeys in life.
“Joel Kodua, he’s professional now he’s won the Commonwealth silver title and Southern Area. Again, he was trained by Tony Cesay.
“There’s so many of us, Stephen Addison, Ohara Davies, there’s so many names. Cheavon Clarke, Lawrence Okolie, all these guys came around Tony.
“Look at the amazing things they’re doing with their lives. James Cook, his legacy speaks for itself he was the chairman of Hackney where I was born.
“At his funeral there were thousands of people there, the eulogies were amazing showing who he was and how loved he was.”
Yarde – who lost to feared Russian pair Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev in his first two title attempts – still lives and trains out of East London.
And helping inspire the next generation – which hero pair Cook and Cesay did before him – is part of the reason Yarde refuses to leave.
He said: “It reminds me what keeps me going. Young school children who don’t know who I am yet is another good feeling.
“I tell them who I am, about my record, my ranking and they’re like, ‘Wow.’ Then next time I see them it’s, ‘I was telling my dad about you. My dad knows who you are.’ It’s nice.”
- To donate visit Tony Cesay’s GoFundMe
David Benavidez squaring off with Yarde
Eze Chidiebere Paul
I'm dedicated to creating high-quality content that informs, inspires, and delights. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to get in touch. Happy reading!
