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By Jim Calfa:<\/strong> Unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev has suffered an unspecified injury training for his October 29th fight against WBO mandatory Anthony Yarde.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the injury for the unbeaten Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) means his fight against Yarde (22-2, 21 KOs) will need to be postponed until the first quarter of 2023, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n There hasn\u2019t been much interest in the Beterbiev-Yarde fight from U.S boxing fans, so they probably won\u2019t take much notice of the fight being delayed until early next year. It\u2019s a mismatch on paper and an easy payday for Beterbiev.<\/p>\n People want to see Beterbiev face WBA 175-lb champion Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed light heavyweight championship. But for some reason, Beterbiev\u2019s promoter Bob Arum isn\u2019t in a rush to make that fight.<\/p>\n It\u2019s believed that the WBO mandatory isn\u2019t due yet for Beterbiev, so he could have fought Bivol next instead of wasting time by fighting Yarde, who is arguably a British domestic-level fighter at best.<\/p>\n \u201cArtur Beterbiev is injured, a source told ESPN, and the planned Oct. 29 defense of his three light heavyweight titles against Anthony Yarde has been postponed. The nature of the injury wasn\u2019t disclosed,\u201d said Mike Coppinger of ESPN.<\/p>\n \u201cThe matchup was slated to take place at London\u2019s O2 Arena after a deal was agreed to, and the plan is for the fight to be rescheduled in early 2023, the source said.\u201d<\/p>\n Yarde, 31, recently avenged his loss to Lyndon Arthur, stopping him in the fourth round in their rematch last December. In 2020, Yarde had lost to Lyndon by a 12 round split decision.<\/p>\n Yarde\u2019s other defeat came at the hands of former WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, who stopped him in the 11th round in 2019.<\/p>\n Beterbiev is coming off an impressive second round knockout win over WBO champion Joe Smith Jr in a unification fight last June at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight was supposed to have been a competitive one, but Beterbiev blasted Smith out with no problems.<\/p>\n Before that, Beterbiev defeated Marcus Browne by a ninth round knockout in December 2021 in a fight that was a blood bath.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important that Top Rank let Beterbiev face Bivol soon for the undisputed because he\u2019s not getting any younger. At 37, Beterbiev doesn\u2019t have a lot of time left in his career.<\/p>\n