ANTHONY Yarde goes toe-to-toe with WBC light heavyweight champ David Benavidez on the star-studded Ring IV card.
Here we take a look at the origin of, and meaning behind, the .
In his last outing in April 2025, Anthony Yarde won his trilogy fight against fierce rival Lyndon ArthurCredit: Getty
David Benavidez beat David Morrell to claim the interim WBC light heavyweight title in February 2025
Who is Anthony Yarde?
was born in Hackney, London, on August 13, 1991.
He was first drawn to boxing aged 14 after watching , but his mother initially refused to allow him to train.
She eventually gave in and Yarde attended a youth boxing club in Leyton, East London, run by family friend Fimber Harper.
Despite intensive training under Fimber and Jeff, his mum was still uncomfortable with the idea of her son fighting.
But recognising his talent, Fimber introduced Yarde to sparring – and even with an older fighter.
Yarde’s mother removed him from the club as soon as she found out, so the young athlete shifted his focus to other sports during school.
He excelled at football, basketball and athletics, staying active in various leagues and competitions.
returned to boxing at 18, training as an amateur under coach Tony Cesay.
With only a dozen amateur bouts behind him, he decided to turn professional in May 2015 with the guidance of Tunde Ajayi and Ade Olayinka.
Yarde made his pro debut in 2015 with a knockout victory, swiftly establishing himself in the light-heavyweight division.
As of November 17, 2025, his record stands at 27 wins, three losses and zero draws, with 24 of those victories coming by way of knockout.
Yarde is probably best known for his rivalry with Lyndon Arthur.
After suffering a in December 2020, Yarde avenged the loss a year later, stopping Arthur in the fourth.
Their decider in April 2025 saw Yarde come out on top by unanimous decision, for the Londoner.
Why does Anthony Yarde say ‘Lions in the camp?’
Yarde’s catchphrase “Lions in the Camp” started during training with his former coach Tony Cesay.
As the man himself explained to Queensberry Promotions in 2020: “When I was training with Tony Cesay… I used to watch a lot of Floyd Mayweather, Roy Jones and Mike Tyson.
“These were guys that were very flamboyant and outspoken.
“That was the entertainment factor, so you would watch these guys outside of the boxing ring….
“That’s not something we got from Tony – Tony Cesay was one of the people saying “Shut up, be quiet, do your job”.
“But because we used to watch so much of these guys, you start to inherit that thing of wanting to be entertaining etc, so I found my feet.
“But when I started shouting ‘Lions in the camp’, it was just me and Adi [Adewale Adeyinka], and when we were training he… would start taking about animals a lot.
“And because I’m a Leo, a lion, he was saying, ‘We swim with the sharks,’ ‘We chance out all the crocodiles,’ ‘We walk with the lions’…
And I shouted out one time: ‘Lions in the camp.’
It caught on and was shouted back and forth by people in the gym, and the phrase came to embody the mentality of Yarde’s camps – strength, pride, loyalty and resilience.
David Benavidez vs Anthony Yarde - all the info
Will it be third time lucky?!
British star will be desperate to finally clinch world champion status after two failed previous attempts – but he’ll have to overcome WBC light heavyweight title holder, David Benavidez.
Yarde’s first boxing heartbreak came in 2019 when he lost a WBO belt bout to Sergey Kovalev.
The British heavyhitter then suffered an eigthth round stoppage in his title clash with four years later.
But since then, Yarde has put together four consecutive wins, which has ultimately earned him a shot against the undefeated
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When is Anthony Yarde vs David Benavidez?
The Ring IV: Night of the Champions fight night takes place at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, November 22, 2025.
Yarde and ‘s ringwalks are expected to begin at around 1am GMT (8pm ET).
The ANB Arena, which can hold 22,000 spectators, is a state-of-the-art new venue.
Benavidez is making the first defence of his WBC light heavyweight title.
Following the co-headline fights, the undercard features some exciting bouts with well-matched opponents.
The full fight card is as follows:
- vs – for Benavidez’s WBC light heavyweight title
- Brian Norman Jr vs – for Norman Jr’s WBO welterweight title
- Abdullah Mason vs Sam Noakes – for vacant WBO lightweight title
- Jesse Rodriguez vs Fernando Martinez – for IBF, WBA and WBC super flyweight titles
- Vito Mielnicki Jr vs Samuel Nmomah – middleweight, 10 rounds (no belts up for grabs)
