Yarde hasn’t boxed since David Benavidez brutally stopped him in a bid for the WBC light heavyweight title last November. 

During an appearance on talkSPORT, the three-time world title challenger was grilled about his recent inactivity. 

“I 100% agree with you,” Yarde (27-4, 24 KOs) said. “I want to be more active. I wish I was more active.”

In an era when fighters are often matched favorably for vacant or second-tier world title belts, Yarde challenged Sergey Kovalev, Artur Beterbiev and Benavidez, falling short each time. 

Earlier in his career, he fought nearly every six months to keep his tools sharp, but at 35, Yarde would draw criticism for facing low-level opposition between fights with the light heavyweight division’s premier operators.

Yet the Londoner wishes he could return to the old-fashioned way of doing things. 

“If you look at history in boxing, I'm a fan of James Toney. Go and look at these fighters historically. Off TV, they used to go and fight three, four times,” he said.

“No one knew about it. I’ve even proposed I'll do that. Go and fight somewhere or go and just fight for activity because, again, my dream is to become a world champion and even though my cards have flipped over and been crazy tasks, that’s still my dream and aspiration.”

With no promoter in his corner, Yarde stressed that he is willing to take a pay cut and stay busy while he waits for another big fight to present itself. 

Yarde doesn’t foresee a possible rematch with Benavidez after the former light heavyweight champion dethroned Gilberto Ramirez in his cruiserweight debut. One fight that intrigues Yarde is with his long-time British rival, Joshua Buatsi. 

Yarde insists he and his team made a determined effort to make the fight after the Benavidez loss, but the grudge match never really came close to happening.

“Buatsi’s gone every other route than to fight me,” he said. “In my opinion, that was still one of the biggest fights in the UK. We’ve seen with our own eyeballs that he’s gone other routes, so we’re looking at options.” 

Buatsi's route has led to a rematch with Willy Hutchinson. In September 2024, Buatsi won a convincing decision over Hutchinson, but the mercurial Scotsman regrouped and worked his way back into title contention. On November 11, they will fight for the WBC interim title at AO Arena in Manchester. 

“I think, potentially, Willy Hutchinson could win this fight if the right Buatsi doesn’t turn up,” Yarde said.

“I also think - and this is just the radar that’s going off in my head - I think they’re gonna elevate it [the interim belt] to be for the full world title.”