By Keith Idec

Anthony Yarde didn’t deliver the knockout he and his trainer repeatedly promised prior to his fight with Sergey Kovalev.

Tunde Ajayi took some satisfaction at least in that his fighter did prove he can excel at boxing’s elite level. Before he challenged Kovalev, critics constantly questioned whether Yarde was a legitimate light heavyweight contender because his unblemished record had been built against a low level of opposition.

The 28-year-old Yarde answered those skeptics when he nearly knocked out Kovalev toward the end of the eighth round Saturday night in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Kovalev’s hometown. Kovalev came back quickly, though, and knocked out Yarde with a jab in the 11th round at a sold-out Traktor Sports Palace.

“Like Anthony, you know, I don’t like to lose,” Ajayi told BT Sport’s Steve Bunce during a post-fight interview. “But one thing I can say about Anthony is he done himself proud. He done all of us proud. He worked hard and he showed that he belongs at this level. That’s one thing. You know, he had Sergey out and his experience did play [a part] in the end. But it wasn’t early on in the fight, where people thought. You know, it took him 11 rounds and [Kovalev] was almost out [in the eighth round]. But I’m proud of Ant and we ain’t never gonna stop.”

England’s Yarde (18-1, 17 KOs) appreciated his trainer’s praise, but he expressed disappointment in the immediate aftermath of his first defeat as a professional or amateur. The 36-year-old Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage (98-92, 97-94, 96-93), in part due to Yarde’s lack of stamina and experience.

“You know what? I’m not proud,” Yarde said. “I didn’t win the fight. Again, I’m not one of the people that makes excuses and if I don’t do as well as I did, if I don’t do as well as I wanna do, I’m not gonna start saying, ‘Oh well, we done well.’ I’m not that kind of person. You’ve gotta strive to be what you wanna be. And again, I wanted to win the fight. I wanted to win the fight, but again, I went for it. A lot of people don’t go for things because they’re scared or they’ve got fear.”

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