Anthony Yarde is guaranteed his second world light heavyweight title shot if two-belt champion Artur Beterbiev beats Joe Smith Jr here on Saturday night.

Yarde is flying to New York to be at ringside in Madison Square Garden, where Beterbiev is hot favourite to add Smith's WBO belt to his WBC and IBF titles.

Beterbiev's legendary promoter Bob Arum promised: 'Yarde will be next assuming Artur wins this big fight. And his chance will come in England in a huge fight for the UK.

'I also expect Yarde will get his chance if Smith wins here but that might complicate the choice of venue.'

Smith is a New Yorker and has a different promoter but Arum said: 'They might want to bring it to the Garden. But However it goes this Saturday I I will be working with Frank Warren to sort it out.'

As Yarde's promoter, Warren hopes for a stadium venue in London.

Yarde fell just short of winning a world title when he challenged the then formidable Sergei Krusher Kovalev in Russia in 2019.

After a second career defeat, to Lyndon Arthur, the East Ender bowed to criticism of his training methods and hi-tec boxing style and redeemed himself with a spectacular all action crushing of Arthur in their rematch Beterbiev, another Russian but fighting now out of Canada, had been expected to move on to fight for the undisputed light-heavy championship against felllow countryman Dmitry Bivol, who has just retained the WBC title with a sensational upset of Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.

But Arum sys: 'Not yet. That's potentially a massive fight we can build as long as they both keep winning.' 

Despite Bivol's shock victory over Canelo, Beterbiev who has won all 17 of his professional fights by knock out is widely considered to be the best light heavyweight in the world today.

He would represent a massive threat to Yarde, who will nevertheless be rooting for him in this spiritual home of boxing.

Yarde's local rival Joshua Buatsi is hoping Bivol will give him a world title chance.