Anthony Yarde left the last of his boxing ambitions in the ring at 6am on Sunday in Riyadh.

Yarde was rescued from his own bravery and the flying fists of David Benavidez in round seven of a one-way fight; Yarde was on his feet, bloodied and beaten in his third attempt to win a version of the world light-heavyweight title when it was mercifully stopped. It was a difficult watch in the end.

Benavidez entered the ring – the fight started at 5.30am – unbeaten in 30 fights and as the WBC light-heavyweight champion, and he never for one moment looked like losing either of those things.

Yarde never quite found his range, never looked comfortable and stood far too often in a vulnerable place with his back to the ropes; Benavidez simply pushed him back and let his hands, elbows and shoulders go in a chilling and brutal display. There were several occasions when Benavidez hit and held as Yarde struggled to avoid getting hit cleanly.

The harsh truth is that by the start of round seven, Benavidez was too fresh, and Yarde, with his nose bleeding heavily, was stuck in a fight that he had little chance of winning. The referee stopped the action before it started in the seventh round to have the ringside doctor inspect the damaged nose; Yarde was allowed to continue.

Benavidez soon trapped Yarde in a corner, let about ten punches go, and Yarde dropped to his knee – he was hurt, but smart enough to take a count. Benavidez, however, helped himself to a big shot once Yarde was down. It was illegal and possibly unintentional. “That punch really buzzed me,” admitted Yarde at the end. It looked like it did.

The referee pulled Benavidez aside, left Yarde to recover, and deducted two points from Benavidez for the infringement. Yarde regained his feet, but his resistance was gone, and he was an easy target for the wayward and heavy punches of Benavidez. The referee ended the fight after 1:59 of the seventh round. There were no complaints. Yarde left the ring with his head high once again after losing a world title fight; Benavidez immediately announced that he is now moving to cruiserweight and that he would fight Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez in Las Vegas in May for world titles at the new weight. Incidentally, Ramirez vs Benavidez is close to being a genuine super fight.

The future is far less clear for Yarde and at 34, after 30 fights, he must have reached that awkward point where he is looking back on a career and not gazing too far into the future. On Sunday morning in Riyadh, at the end of a long night and long week, Yarde looked like a shadow of the devastating puncher he had been. He has stopped or knocked out 24 of the 27 men he has beaten – against Benavidez he never looked happy or dangerous for a single moment. There were no excuses, no wild claims, but Yarde did seem shocked by the strength and power of Benavidez.

Yarde first fought for the world title when he travelled deep into Russia to a city called Chelyabinsk to fight local idol Sergey Kovalev. It was a brutal affair in the end, and Kovalev, having survived several scares, finally knocked out Yarde in the 11th round. It was a learning process for Yarde, and he did learn from it.

In early 2023, in London this time, Yarde once again fought for the world title and he was matched with the very best world champion of his generation: Artur Beterbiev. It was a brutal fight, Yarde, at his best, brought out the very best of Beterbiev. It finished in round eight, Yarde the loser again and Beterbiev retained his three world titles to move his record to 19 wins with 19 stoppages or knockouts.

“I never took the easy route, I never took the easy fights,” Yarde said last week. “I wanted to win a world title against the very best – that is how you should win a world title.” Yarde’s devotion to his craft has never been in doubt.

If it is the end of Yarde’s world title ambitions, then he must surely now join a ridiculously elite club of men who failed three times to win a world title, and each time fought the very best fighters at their weight. In the Sixties, a boxer from Liverpool called Alan Rudkin set the gold standard for hard world title fights against brilliant champions in hostile environments. It was a global standard, not just a British thing.

Rudkin went to Tokyo in 1965 and lost on points over 15 rounds to Fighting Harada for the WBC bantamweight title. In 1969, he went to Melbourne and lost over 15 rounds for the same title to Lionel Rose, and later that year in Los Angeles, he was stopped in the second round by Ruben Olivares for the same title. Olivares was unbeaten at the time in 55 fights; all three are modern legends, and Rudkin had the misfortune to fight the trio.

Yarde and Rudkin are elite examples of men who just came up against the very best of their time. There is no shame in being in that club in the cruellest of sports.