Frank Warren Willing To Discuss Step-Aside Deal For Anthony Yarde To Allow Sergey Kovalev Fight Canelo Alvarez

Frank Warren wrote he is open to the idea of Anthony Yarde waiting for his light heavyweight title shot later this year for the right price.

In a column on talkSPORT, Warren wrote about the latest on negotiations between Yarde and WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. The two sides have been close to securing a fight but talks pretty much stalled in recent weeks after Canelo Alvarez stated his interest in facing Kovalev. This led to camps for both Alvarez and Kovalev to start negotiations, leaving Yarde, the mandatory challenger to Kovalev’s title, waiting in the wings.

But if Kovalev does abandon a fight against Yarde for Alvarez, Warren said he would be willing to discuss a step-aside fee for allowing Kovalev to pursue a bout against the unified middleweight champion.

“I don’t think Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will fight Gennadiy Golovkin again and Canelo appears to be looking at Sergey Kovalev. Obviously, our man Anthony Yarde is in that spot. The WBO have ordered that because he’s the mandatory, but if the Canelo vs Kovalev fight came up, we’d be willing to discuss stepping aside – subject to Anthony being guaranteed to face the winner,” Warren said.

While Warren would like to hear an answer from Kovalev’s camp regarding a fight against Yarde soon, the British promoter said he understands why Kovalev is pursuing a fight against Alvarez and not his fighter. In the end, should a fight between Alvarez and Kovalev ultimately does happen, it works out better for Yarde in the long run. The reason being, according to Warren, is that he believes Yarde fighting the Alvarez vs. Kovalev winner would bring even more money for the contender.

“Kovalev knows there is more money in him fighting Canelo and we know there is more money for Yarde in facing the winner of that fight. So it all makes sense from a financial point of view. It’s a business, we have to make some of these big fights happen,” Warren said.

Warren’s full column can be read at this link.