Joshua Buatsi

Joshua Buatsi
Born (1993-03-14) 14 March 1993 (age 31)
Accra, Ghana
NationalityBritish
Other namesJust Business
Statistics
Weight(s)Light-heavyweight
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[1]
Reach74+1⁄2 in (189 cm)[1]
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights19
Wins19
Wins by KO13
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Light-heavyweight
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Samokov Light-heavyweight
Representing  England
English National Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2013 London Light-heavyweight
Gold medal – first place 2014 Liverpool Light-heavyweight
Gold medal – first place 2015 Liverpool Light-heavyweight

Joshua Buatsi (born 14 March 1993) is a British professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim light-heavyweight title since September 2024. At regional level, he has held the British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles since February 2024, and previously held the British title in 2019. As an amateur, he won light-heavyweight bronze medals at the 2015 European Championships and the 2016 Olympics.

Early life

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Buatsi was born on 14 March 1993 in Accra, Ghana.[2] After his family moved to the UK, they resided in Monks Hill in Selsdon, South London. Buatsi studied at Edenham High School. Buatsi graduated with a 2:1 degree in Management with Sports Science from St Mary's University, Twickenham, while also competing as an amateur boxer.[3]

Amateur career

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Buatsi started his early boxing career at the South Norwood and Victory club, Charnwood Road, Crystal Palace, London, England. His trainer, Terry Smith, worked hard with Buatsi right up until he signed with Hearn's Matchroom Boxing. Mark Gillespie, the second coach at SNaV, followed Buatsi into the professional circuit both leaving their amateur roots.

At the 2016 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Samsun, Turkey, Buatsi defeated Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak in his semi-final and Dutch boxer Peter Müllenberg in the final of the light-heavyweight tournament to secure his place in Rio as part of the Great Britain team.[3][4]

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's light-heavyweight competition, he defeated Elshod Rasulov of Uzbekistan with a third-round knockout, to progress to the quarter finals.[5]

Professional career

[edit]

Buatsi made his professional debut on 1 July 2017, when he fought Carlos Mena at The O2 Arena. Buatsi won the fight by knockout in the second round. He next fought on 1 September against Baptiste Castegnaro, winning by knockout in the fifth round. On 28 October 2017, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, Buatsi fought Saidou Sall in a six round bout, winning the bout 60-54.

Buatsi’s first fight of 2018 was against Jordan Joseph, he won the bout by stoppage in the second round after Joseph’s corner threw the towel in. He went on to defeat Bartlomiej Grafka 60-54 over six rounds on 31 March and Stephane Cuevas by knockout in the fifth round on the undercard of Tony Bellew vs. David Haye on 5 May.

On 23 March 2019, Buatsi defeated Liam Conroy via technical knockout in round three to claim the vacant British light-heavyweight title at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.[6][7]

In his US debut, on the Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. undercard at Madison Square Garden, Buatsi defeated Mexican veteran and former title challenger Marco Antonio Peribán within four rounds. Buatsi first dropped his opponent, and after he got up, unleashed a flurry of shots at him, forcing the referee to stop the fight.[8]

In his next fight, Buatsi faced another veteran, Canadian Ryan Ford. Ford proved to be a good test for the young Buatsi, but in the end, Buatsi managed to get a seventh-round stoppage.[9]

On 15 May 2021, Buatsi fought Frenchman Daniel Dos Santos at the AO Arena in Manchester, winning by devastating knockout with a well-timed right hand in the fourth round.[10] Buatsi followed this up by beating Ričards Bolotņiks with an eleventh round knock out as the main event on the final instalment of Matchroom Boxing's Fight Camp series.[11] For the last two fights, Joshua has been under the tutelage of Virgil Hunter, the former trainer of Andre Ward, with both of his most recent camps taking place at Virgil's gym in California.[12]

Buatsi won the British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision win over defending champion Dan Azeez at Wembley Arena on 3 February 2024.[13][14]

In his next fight, he became the WBO interim light-heavyweight champion thanks to a split decision win over Willy Hutchinson at Wembley Stadium on 21 September 2024. Buatsi twice knocked his opponent to the canvas before having his hand raised after two ringside judges scored the contest in his favour 117-108 and 115-110 respectively, while the third had it for Hutchinson 113-112.[15][16][17]

Outside the ring

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Buatsi is managed by two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.[18] He also supports BoxWise, a UK-based non-profit social enterprise focused on boxing.[19]

Professional boxing record

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19 fights 19 wins 0 losses
By knockout 13 0
By decision 6 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
19 Win 19–0 Willy Hutchinson SD 12 21 Sep 2024 Wembley Stadium, London, England Won WBO interim light-heavyweight title
18 Win 18–0 Dan Azeez UD 12 3 Feb 2024 OVO Arena, London, England Won British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles
17 Win 17–0 Pawel Stepian UD 10 7 May 2023 Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, England
16 Win 16–0 Craig Richards UD 12 21 May 2022 The O2 Arena, London, England
15 Win 15–0 Ričards Bolotņiks TKO 11 (12), 2:08 14 Aug 2021 Matchroom Fight Camp, Brentwood, England
14 Win 14–0 Daniel Dos Santos TKO 4 (10), 2:44 15 May 2021 AO Arena, Manchester, England Retained WBA International light-heavyweight title
13 Win 13–0 Marko Calic TKO 7 (12), 2:09 4 Oct 2020 Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, England Retained WBA International light-heavyweight title
12 Win 12–0 Ryan Ford KO 7 (10), 1:07 31 Aug 2019 The O2 Arena, London, England Retained WBA International light-heavyweight title
11 Win 11–0 Marco Antonio Peribán TKO 4 (10), 1:39 1 Jun 2019 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US Retained WBA International light-heavyweight title
10 Win 10–0 Liam Conroy TKO 3 (12), 1:53 23 Mar 2019 Copper Box Arena, London, England Won vacant British light-heavyweight title
9 Win 9–0 Renold Quinlan TKO 1 (10), 1:50 22 Dec 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England Retained WBA International light-heavyweight title
8 Win 8–0 Tony Averlant TKO 1 (10), 2:53 13 Oct 2018 Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England Retained WBA International light-heavyweight title
7 Win 7–0 Andrejs Pokumeiko TKO 1 (10), 1:51 28 Jul 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England Won vacant WBA International light-heavyweight title
6 Win 6–0 Stephane Cuevas TKO 5 (8), 0:50 5 May 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England
5 Win 5–0 Bartlomiej Grafka PTS 6 31 Mar 2018 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
4 Win 4–0 Jordan Joseph TKO 2 (6), 2:43 3 Feb 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Saidou Sall PTS 6 28 Oct 2017 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
2 Win 2–0 Baptiste Castegnaro TKO 5 (6), 1:06 1 Sep 2017 York Hall, London, England
1 Win 1–0 Carlos Mena TKO 2 (6), 1:19 1 Jul 2017 The O2 Arena, London, England

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b DAZN tale of the tale before the Willy Hutchinson fight.
  2. ^ "Joshua Buatsi – 81KG". AIBA. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b Young, Benjamin. "Boxing: Next stop Brazil for Croydon's Buatsi". Wandsworth Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Olympic boxing: Nicola Adams among eight British qualifiers for Rio 2016". BBC Sport. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Rio Olympics 2016: GB's Joshua Buatsi into quarters with 'stunning upset' knockout". BBC Sport. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Joshua Buatsi knocks out Liam Conroy to win British title". The Independent. 24 March 2019. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Edwards vs Moreno: Joshua Buatsi stops Liam Conroy in three to claim vacant British light heavyweight belt". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  8. ^ Christ, Scott (1 June 2019). "Joshua Buatsi stops Marco Antonio Periban in fourth round". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  9. ^ Christ, Scott (31 August 2019). "Joshua Buatsi knocks out Ryan Ford in seventh round". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Joshua Buatsi continues march to the top with emphatic knockout over Daniel Dos Santos | DAZN News US". DAZN. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Joshua Buatsi knocks out Ryan Ford in seventh round". BBC Sport. 14 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Joshua Buatsi: Is Virgil Hunter the man to lead him towards light-heavyweight elite". 15 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Joshua Buatsi beats Dan Azeez in ferocious 12-round contest at Wembley Arena". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Confident Joshua Buatsi display delivers unanimous victory over Dan Azeez". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Joshua Buatsi floors Willy Hutchinson twice on his way to Wembley win". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Joshua Buatsi Scores Two Knockdowns, Outpoints Willy Hutchinson For Interim WBO Title". The Ring. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Joshua Buatsi beats Willy Hutchinson on a split decision". Boxing News Online. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Buatsi: Why I chose Joshua over Mayweather". ESPN.com. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  19. ^ Dennen, John (28 December 2021). "Boxwise - 'This is about helping the most vulnerable'". Boxing News. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Erik Skoglund 		WBA International light-heavyweight champion
28 July 2018 – present 		Incumbent
Vacant
Title last held by
Callum Johnson 		British light-heavyweight champion
23 March 2019 – September 2019
Vacated 		Vacant
Title next held by
Shakan Pitters
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