Joshua Buatsi (19-1, 13 KO) weighed in at 174.10 pounds while his opponent Zach Parker (26-1.18 KO) weighed in at 174.9 pounds in their 10-round WBO International airy heavyweight title bout on Saturday, November 1 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN at 15:30 ET / 12:30 PT and 19:30 GMT.
The winner targets Benavidez-Yarde
Buatsi and Parker have a lot to offer in this matchup. The winner could fight for a world title against whoever is victorious in next month’s fight between WBC 175-pound champion David Benavidez and Anthony Yard in a Nov. 22 clash.
Weights
Joshua Buatsi: 174.10 vs. Zach Parker: 174.9
Brad Rea: 173.13 vs. Lyndon Arthur: 174.13
Liam Cameron: 173.13 vs. Troy Jones: 174.11
Billy Deniz: 174.3 vs. Ezra Arenyeka: 177.3
Khaleel Majid: 139.14 vs. David Ryan: 140
Luke Prior: 147.10 vs. Eduardo Vera Sanchez: 150.6
John Tom Varey: 115.8 vs. Brandon Gallardo Vargas: 116.12
Stephen Clarke: 161.8 vs. Jose Aguirre: 161.4
Brad Casey: 201.7 vs. Antonio Borovina: 200
Leon Hughes: 180.2 vs. Pavol Garaj: 174.15
Jermaine Dholiwayo: 129.7 vs. Cesar Paredes: 130.12
“He’s an ambitious player, and that makes him a threatening player. That’s enough information for me,” said Joshua Buatsi in an interview for talkSport Boxing about Zach Parker. “I need to win this to keep moving forward [promoter Frank Warren] he said the winner becomes number 1. You want to be in a position to be number 1 in the title fight. So I’m ecstatic about it.”
Why this fight still matters
A victory on Saturday could vault Buatsi to No. 1 in the WBC rankings at 175. That doesn’t mean he’ll be next to fight the winner of the Nov. 22 fight between WBC airy heavyweight champion David Benavidez and Anthony Yard. The winner will certainly want to challenge Dmitry Bivol for the IBF, WBA and WBO 175-pound belts.
Based on the way Parker and Buatsi have looked in their recent fights, they are not fighting at the level that WBC champion Benavidez is currently at. So if they challenge him, they will have to improve their game enormously to avoid becoming Benavidez’s next victim.
“He’s a guy who is determined. He knows that winning this fight is very vital for him. I’m dealing with a threatening fighter,” Buatsi told Queensberry about Zach. “We have to show that we are better on Saturday. Yes,” Joshua said when asked if he had watched a lot of Parker.
The 32-year-old Buatsi cannot afford to lose this fight if he wants to have a chance to win the November 22 fight between WBC airy heavyweight champion David Benavidez and Anthony Yard. Buatsi’s recent 12-round loss to Callum Smith on February 22, 2025, knocked him off balance in his career.
Joshua has been criticized for entering this fight due to the snail-paced approach he has taken throughout his career and his habit of long periods of inactivity. He needs to win on Saturday and take the fight against Benavidez-Yarde if it’s possible for him.
“I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time,” Parker said. “I was nervous when I broke my arm against Ryder, but I’m recovering from that. Now I’m here and I’m looking forward to it. This is probably the best camp of my life.”
Parker needs to get back to his aged form
To beat Buatsi, it will need to be the best version of Parker from four years ago, as that is a substantial improvement over the four low-level fighters he faced during his recent rebuild.
Parker slammed boxing fans for giving up after four rounds with a hand injury in his November 26, 2022 fight against John Ryder. People believe that Parker should have stayed there and fought through his injury because he was facing a guy he should have beaten.
Buatsi’s chin is still a question mark
Buatsi is by no means undefeated, as we saw in his 12-round split decision over 35-year-old Callum Smith earlier this year on February 22, 2025 in Riyad. Parker has a chance to win if he can turn the fight into a war, like Callum did, and focus on targeting Buatsi’s head.
Smith hurt him in his previous fight against Willy Hutchinson. These two fights could have brought something out of Buatsi. Even if they didn’t, he showed a weakness in the chin that Zach could exploit if he wanted to go to war with him.
Tony Bellew is going against the grain for tonight’s Daniel Dubois vs Fabio Wardley rematch.
The pair meet again just five months on from their thrilling first encounter, with Dubois now WBO champion having won the belt from Wardley via eleventh round stoppage.
After surviving two early knockdowns, the Londoner – who is now in his second stint as heavyweight titlist – took over the contest with a solid jab setting up thudding attacks that exhausted Wardley.
Though the Ipswich man stayed on his feet throughout, referee Howard Foster waved it off as the punishment because too much.
It is how the fight ended, and those last few rounds in which Dubois was largely dominating, that make him a strong favourite to retain his belt.
Giving his prediction to the BBCformer cruiserweight world champion Bellew backed Wardley to have success early again, but capitalise fully this time and end it.
“I’m going to be the difference. I am going to back Fabio Wardley by knockout within six rounds. Yep, I said [it]. I’m going for Fab within six.”
Dubois was on the canvas within ten seconds last time out, and took a knee in the third when hurt again.
Bellew has questioned Dubois’ resolve in the past, pointing to his stoppage loss to Joe Joyce as proof that there is a point he can be pushed to that he is not willing to go beyond. Many, however, will look to the first Wardley performance and disagree.
Both men recorded the highest weights of their careers on the scalessuggesting that neither will be changing the gameplan to a more measured affair, rather looking to engage in round 13 from the off tonight at London’s O2.
Top trainer Peter Fury has offered his expert analysis on the rematch between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley, believing it is still a 50/50 fight.
Others, meanwhile, will argue that Dubois should be made a considerable favourite, based on how he was able to dismantle Wardley in their first encounter.
In order to do so, the ‘Dynamite’ puncher was compelled to climb off the canvas in rounds one and three, having been put down by blows to the top of his head.
Proceedings then became a little one-sided as Dubois, utilising his fundamentals, managed to score an 11th-round finish with his thudding jab and superior footwork.
Wardley, however, wasted little time before activating the rematch clause in their contract and, in turn, securing the chance to reclaim his WBO title at London’s O2 Arena tomorrow evening.
Many will argue that such a swift turnaround could lead to his downfall while, due to his power and toughness, others would suggest that the 31-year-old is always dangerous, no matter the opponent standing across from him.
As such, coach Fury has told Boxing King Media that, while Dubois is rightfully brimming with confidence, it would be foolish to entirely dismiss Wardley’s attributes.
“I think it’s a great heavyweight fight – Dubois has got heavy hands and a good jab as well, so it’ll be interesting.
“You’ve got to say Wardley’s got it all to do, because the confidence of Dubois will be high. And if Dubois’ super confident, he’s a problem.
“But let’s see – Wardley was able to hurt Dubois early on. I still think that fight is a 50/50 fight.”
If he emerges victorious against Wardley, then Dubois will likely be targeting a unification match with Agit Kabayel or Filip Hrgovic in 2027.
Daniel Dubois will face Fabio Wardley in a rematch of a heavyweight slugfest from earlier this year, with Dubois defending the WBO heavyweight title he took from Wardley on that night.
Live coverage will kick off at 2 pm ET, and we’ll have results and updates during the four-fight, main card undercard, then live, round-by-round scoring and updates for the main event itself.
How to watch Dubois vs Wardley 2
Start time: 2:00 pm ET for main card, prelims begin at 11:00 am ET
Streaming: DAZN (Ultimate subscription or Pay-Per-View)
PPV Cost: As a standalone, one-off purchase Pay-Per-View, the price is $59.99 (or £24.99). With DAZN’s Ultimate tier, the show is included as part of your subscription.
Location: O2 Arena – London, England
Dubois vs Wardley 2 full undercard and running order
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