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Buatsi-Parker weigh-in results: Winner looks to Benavidez-Yarde

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7 months ago

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Image: Joshua Buatsi vs Zach Parker Weigh-In Results: Saturday’s Winner Could Face the Benavidez vs Yarde Victor Next

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.

Last updated: 31/10/2025

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Boxing

Canelo Alvarez makes his feelings clear after Verhoeven’s controversial 11th round stoppage against Usyk

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7 minutes ago

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May 24, 2026

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Canelo Alvarez makes feelings clear on controversial Verhoeven stoppage against Usyk in 11th round

Canelo Alvarez commented on the controversial break between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven.

The boxing world was buzzing with their reaction Usyk successfully defended his heavyweight crown against Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

However, for a long time it seemed that this would not be an effective defense, and the final came in the 11th round when referee Mark Lyson stopped the fight, which many viewers prematurely believed.

Verhoeven performed well above expectations, causing Usyk numerous problems throughout the fight, but although he recovered from the knockdown, the kickboxing star was stopped on his feet and denied the chance to advance to the 12th round.

Tony Bellew believes Verhoeven should be given a chance to continue his career, but Mexican superstar Canelo does not share the same view.

I talk to professional boxing fansCanelo revealed that he agreed with the judge’s decision.

“It was a good fight, I don’t think so [that it was was an early stoppage]I think they saved a brutal knockout.”

Usyk is expected to take some time before deciding on his next move, with some fans calling for an immediate rematch with Verhoeven while others want him to face mandatory WBC title challenger Agit Kabayel now.

As for Canelo, he will return to action in September and will look to reclaim his world titles when he fights WBC super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli in Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

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Boxing

Prince Naseem Hamed’s biopic “Giant” hits the United States on May 22

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2 hours ago

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May 23, 2026

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a biopic chronicling the career of former featherweight champion Prince Naseem Hamed will be released in select U.S. theaters and on VOD on May 22. The film stars Amir El-Masry as Hamed and Pierce Brosnan as his longtime trainer Brendan Ingle, with Sylvester Stallone among the executive producers.

Directed and written by Rowan Athale, it premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2025 and was released in the UK and Ireland on January 9, 2026, before arriving in the Middle East via the Red Sea Film Festival. Vertical holds U.S. distribution rights, and the film was financed by AGC Studios and BondIt Media Capital.

What the movie covers

The plot follows Hamed’s rise from Sheffield, England, to a world title under Ingle, an Irish-born steelworker who ran a boxing gym in a church hall. According to the official description, the film also addresses the racism and Islamophobia that Hamed faced in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, and also focuses on his relationship with Ingle, who died in 2018.

Collider published an exclusive clip from the film on May 21 featuring Hamed’s 1994 fight against Vincenzo Belcastro. In this fight, Hamed won the European bantamweight title in 12 rounds, which was only his 12th professional contest, which was the beginning of his later career.

The warrior behind the film

Hamed, a southpaw of Yemeni heritage, finished his professional career with a 36-1 record and 31 knockouts while holding featherweight titles in multiple sanctioning bodies throughout the 1990s. Now 51, he was known for his unconventional style, pre-fight showmanship and ring walks that often ended with a fall over the top rope. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Following Ingle’s death, Hamed directly attributed his success to his coach Ring that without him he wouldn’t have achieved what he did in sports.

The supporting cast included Toby Stephens as promoter Frank Warren and Katherine Dow Blyton as Alma Ingle. The film lasts 110 minutes.

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Boxing

Rico Verhoeven reacts to the loss of Oleksandr Usyk

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4 hours ago

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May 23, 2026

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Image: Rico Verhoeven Reacts To Usyk Loss: “I’m Here To Stay”

Rico Verhoeven insists he has proven he belongs in boxing despite an 11th-round loss to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night in Egypt.

The former kickboxing champion pushed Usyk much harder than many expected before the referee stepped in tardy in the fight. At the time of the stoppage, two judges had the fight even at 95-95, with the third having Verhoeven ahead 96-94.


“Yeah, it sucks. I felt like I was so close to shocking the world,” Rico Verhoeven told DAZN Boxing after the fight.

“I want to stay here. I think I showed the world that I can definitely box. Even as a kickboxer they told me, ‘Who is this guy? He can’t do anything. It’ll be four or five rounds,’ but I think after four or five rounds we were pretty even in terms of results.”

“So I think it was a crazy, crazy performance. I felt like I was so close to winning, but it is what it is.”

Verhoeven entered the fight as the main underdog against the undefeated unified heavyweight champion, but his physical pressure, size and willingness to trade caused Usyk to struggle during several early and middle rounds.

The performance immediately changed the discussion about Verhoeven’s future in boxing.

Rather than treat the fight as a one-off, the Dutch heavyweight later made it clear that he planned to continue boxing despite the defeat. His comments also reflected the fierceness of the fight before Usyk finally took control in the championship rounds and forced a stoppage.

For much of the fight, Verhoeven looked much more comfortable than many expected against one of boxing’s greatest champions.

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Last updated: 23/05/2026 at 20:20

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