Boxing
Joshua Buatsi set for success in Hutchinson needle fight
SHORTLY before I talked to Joshua BuatsiI watched a video of a confrontation between the Ghanaian-born British lightweight heavyweight and his next opponent Willy Hutchinson.
The two men were separated by security in the room, where the tension between the fighters almost transferred to their fists.
Hutchinson earned his shot at the WBO No. 1 contender by convincingly defeating Craig Richards in Riyadh on June 1. But the Scot’s tactics weren’t constrained to the ring. During fight week, he tried to irritate and upset “The Spider.”
Buatsi, like Richards, is usually a serene, composed and collected man, but in this particular video, the undefeated fighter was unhappy with Hutchinson’s words and behavior towards him and said, “You talk a lot, but the cameras are not rolling right now. So if you’re going to say anything…”
Hutchinson starts laughing. Buatsi politely asks security to step aside so he can talk to the 26-year-old without interruption.
“I just want to talk to this guy,” Buatsi pleads with them.
They finally stand face to face.
“The cameras are not on now…” Buatsi says.
Then he immediately grabs Hutchinson by the throat before security can separate them and halt their September 21 match at Wembley Stadium, weeks before it begins. Carl Frampton, now a pundit for TNT Sports, appears in the film as a still mediator, and his appearance provides a clue to the context of the commotion.
When is boxing news he started In our interview with Buatsi, the first question was whether Hutchinson had gotten under his skin.
“I think from the outside looking in, anyone would say that,” he says.
“But you know what I think? I think when people watch Gloves Are Off — you know, when you sit down at the table — they’ll understand why at that time.
“I told Carl Frampton who was handling the TNT deal and I told Ade from DAZN, [Oladipo] and also, “This guy’s getting a little rude.” And I said, “You know, man to man, I can’t sit here long enough for you to keep being rude.
“So when people see it, they’ll connect the dots. But because people haven’t seen it, they’ll say, ‘Oh, he got under his skin.’ But when you see it, you’ll think, OK, that makes sense. There’s definitely context for it.”
Hutchinson celebrates biggest win of his career after defeating Craig Richards
Buatsi vs Hutchinson will take place at another Riyadh Season event, with Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua clashing for the IBF heavyweight title in the main event at the home of English football. The addition of two British lightweight heavyweights is an undercard fight that deserves to be watched by fans.
Hutchinson is a newborn upstart who has shaken up the domestic lightweight heavyweight division. For a long time, there was talk of Buatsi vs. Yarde or Yarde vs. Buatsi, depending on who was in better form.
For a long time the rivals were little more than ‘linked’ to each other, but this year a deal seemed close, but then Yarde’s relationship with promoter Frank Warren seemed to have deteriorated and the positive rumours died down from all sides. And now the all-London match is back on the shelf, approaching its sell-by date.
“It was a fight we all watched,” Buatsi says.
“This [Hutchinson] came to lightweight and it turned out to be a good offer, a good opportunity, so we took advantage of it.”
Any potential Yarde fight is on hold for now. Buatsi isn’t getting too attached to the possibility. He’s not emotional about whether it happens or not. For now, he’s moved on and doesn’t expect to face anything else.
“I have a date and an opponent, so that’s what I’m focused on,” he says. “I don’t go around thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to fight Yarde.’ Right now, I’ve got to fight Hutchinson.”
Whether it was his time at Matchroom and fights on Sky Sports and DAZN, or his move to Boxxer and return to the British media giant, Buatsi’s career has always been under the microscope.
He won the British Championship title in 10th century.t fighting after doing the job to Liam Conroy was the least expected of him. But fans and media demanded more from a fighter who had been tipped for world titles since he entered the professional ring.
Five years after beating Conroy, Buatsi has eight fights. Not that he needs much grit to win most of them. His best wins have come in three of his last four fights, over Ricardo Bolotniks, Craig Richards and Dan Azeez. The long layoffs have their reasons (COVID, injuries), but Buatsi would rather be fighting.
Speaking about those few months without a fight, he says: “It’s a period of more complaining and saying, ‘I want to box again, I want to box again.'”
“It’s a period where I say, ‘This is what it is, and what can I do? I can continue training, so that’s pretty much what I end up doing.'”
Going to America and training with Virgil Hunter allows him to escape the distractions of life in London. In the States, everything revolves around boxing and nothing else. When he returns home, everything changes and life moves at 100 miles an hour.
“I have a gigantic family. I have so many people I know. There’s always something to do,” she says.
“I always tell people that if I want to stay awake for 24 hours in London, it’s more than possible. There’s always something to do. So when I come here [America]I sleep on time, I wake up on time.
“When they say I have a day off, I have a day off. So it’s quite nice here, and I get on with people much better when I’m away from home. When I’m in London, it’s non-stop work for me.”
If Buatsi beats Hutchinson, he’ll be knocking on the door for a world title fight again. Messrs. Beterbiev and Bivol have yet to be moved from the top spots they’ve held for several years, but come October, one of them will be able to say he’s number one when their modern, undisputed fight lands in Saudi Arabia.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Buatsi must be fighting for a world title in 2025. Whatever his faults, whatever his critics say, he remains Britain’s best bet to win one of the four belts that could ultimately separate them from the undisputed champion, whoever that may be.
Seven years as a professional boxer is no tiny feat for Buatsi, but it has been enough time to reflect on the most crucial lesson he has learned in his career so far.
“I think you have to take everything one day at a time, but you also have to just remain grateful and humble,” he says.
Joshua Buatsi clears Dan Azeez at Wembley Arena (James Chance/Getty Images)
“I saw boxing, you can be a hero today and then give up again the next day. I think that’s what this sport taught me.
“When it’s good, take it. Bad times may come, bad times may not come, but just stay humble and treat everyone the same. And this game that we’re in is only for, what, 10, 15, 20 years? And then you come back to yourself.
“So yeah, don’t let the game change you. That’s one thing I learned from it. That’s one thing I would say I’ve stuck with. I was the way I was before I turned pro. Even now as a pro, I’m the same. I didn’t let boxing change me because it only applies to a certain part of my life.
“Then I have to go back to my family, my friends, the people I knew growing up. And if you change too much, of course change for the better and evolve. But don’t get too cocky.”
Some of Buatsi’s best traits were on display during and after the fight with Dan Azeez. The storyline of their February fight revolved around their friendship and their sparring. Both men played it down, but as the fight approached, the atmosphere became irritating, tense and could be the end of their friendship. After 12 rounds, Buatsi won a deserved unanimous decision, but afterward he spent more time talking about Azeez, giving him the credit he deserved, showing him respect, than he did himself.
He won, but he also made sure everyone knew about his friend, and a few weeks later the two were photographed having a meal together in Ghana.
Comparing the fight week and the Azeez fight to others, Buatsi says, “It was completely different. I would say that was the one that stood out the most. First of all, because I was fighting a good friend of mine, someone I’ve known for a long time. Someone I’ve sparred with so many rounds that I thought, you know what, this guy might know everything I’m going to do.
“But we hadn’t sparred for about eight to nine months, and I had grown a lot in those months. So, yeah, it was just a whole modern challenge, but a very fascinating one. Something really, really different.”
“Usually the people you fight, you’ve never fought before, you don’t know them. But this was someone I knew, someone I had looked through pictures of a year before and I saw it was one of my best friends’ birthday dinner. And there was Dan Azeez and I in the same picture, standing together in the middle of all our friends. So it was a little awkward, but it was an experience.”
Can a fight with a friend be enjoyable, or does it take 36 minutes and all you want to do is survive and get it over with?
“To be candid, I didn’t like it at all, just because it was someone I knew,” he replies. “Even now, after the fight, I try to check on Dan and stuff like that.
“It was just bad luck that he was in good form and we had to fight each other. But we just had to do it, and at that point it was me or him.”
Only Buatsi or Hutchinson will come close to a first world title fight on September 21. The former says it’s just another fight, another day at the office, and the platitudes will be heard during fight week, but if his hand is raised at Wembley, it’s demanding not to believe the icy Buatsi won’t feel the satisfaction of beating the man who wants to shake his cage.
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