In a toe-to-toe encounter, the 38-year-old Artur Beterbiev stopped Anthony Yarde in the eighth round to retain the WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight belts at the London OVO Arena in London.
Yarde made a fast start through the first two rounds but in the third, Beterbiev began to score with some big shots.
In the fourth round, both fighters landed some heavy blows, with Beterbiev edging it.
The toe-toe action continued in the fifth round as Yarde landed with a big right hand but Beterbiez came back strongly before the bell.
In round six, both fighters were bleeding from cuts and in the seventh round, Yarde was still fighting back.
However, in the eighth round, Beterbiev hurt Yarde with a big right hand and then sent him down with another right hand.
Yarde managed to beat the count but was on unsteady legs as the referee waved the fight off. The time was 2:01.
Two of the judges had Yarde ahead with scores of 68-65 and 67-66, whilst the third judge scored it 67-66 for Beterbiev.
Beterbiev improved his record to 19-0; 19 and Yarde’s record dropped to 23-3; 22.
