Callum Johnson’s advice for Anthony Yarde is to be aggressive against Artur Beterbiev early in their fight.

Otherwise, the retired light heavyweight contender believes Beterbiev will treat Yarde like most of the opponents who’ve shown a reluctance to engage with the Russian knockout artist. Nevertheless, even if Yarde has some success early versus Beterbiev, Johnson doesn’t think his countryman is capable of pulling off what would be a huge upset Saturday night at OVO Arena Wembley in London.

Johnson, who dropped Beterbiev in the second round of their 175-pound title fight four years ago, broke down Beterbiev-Yarde during an appearance on BT Sport Boxing’s YouTube channel.

“I think he has a chance because everybody has a chance,” Johnson said. “And Yarde can punch himself. He can really punch. And Beterbiev’s 38 now, is he, or nearly 38. So, there is gonna be a time when he has got to get old at some point. But if I’m honest, I don’t think it’s yet and I don’t think it’s gonna be against Anthony Yarde. I think he’s up against it. I don’t see him winning the fight. I mean, but I could be wrong because, you know, he can punch and there is always that chance.”

Johnson, whose only loss came against Beterbiev, knows that as well as anyone. The Boston, England native was a huge underdog against Beterbiev, too, but he proved that this pulverizing puncher isn’t indestructible.

The hard-hitting Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs) didn’t realize how hurt Beterbiev was when his left hook sent the unbeaten IBF/WBC/WBO champion to the canvas just after the midway mark of the second round in October 2018 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Once Beterbiev regained his composure, he drilled Johnson with a short right hand late in the fourth round that knocked him down and out.

Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) is a huge puncher as well and the lopsided odds, 9-1 in favor of Beterbiev according to most sportsbooks, prompted Johnson to admit placing a wager on Yarde might make some sense. But based on how they have fared against top light heavyweights, Johnson can’t envision Yarde beating Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs), who turned 38 last Saturday.

“You’re just looking at the performances of both fighters and what both fighters have done,” Johnson said, “and you can’t really see it any other way, in my opinion, because, you know, Beterbiev is what he is and he’s done what he’s done and he’s arguably the most feared fighter out there or the most dangerous fighter out there for a reason.”

Beterbiev-Yarde will air on BT Sport 1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where the network’s undercard coverage is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. GMT. ESPN+ will stream Beterbiev-Yarde and four undercard contests, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET in the United States.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.