South London’s Joshua Buatsi will defend his WBO interim light-heavyweight title against Liverpool’s Callum Smith this Saturday.
Joshua Buatsi defends his WBO interim title on Saturday on what may prove to be a grueling night’s work against skilled operator – Callum Smith.
Buatsi is not underestimating Smith, who has fought a high level of opposition throughout his career, including the current undisputed light-heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev.
Smith, however, believes George Groves was a tougher test than Buatsi will be.
Buatsi holds an undefeated record of 19-0, whilst Smith is on 30-2, with his losses come at the hands of Canelo Alvarez and Beterbiev.
The Ghanaian-British fighter boasts 13 knockouts and began a 10-fight KO streak in 2018, which was broken by fellow South Londoner Craig Richards in 2022.
But there is one knockout on Buatsi’s resume that troubles him.
Joshua Buatsi prayed for Daniel Dos Santos after brutal fourth-round knockout
In 2021, in what would end up being the penultimate knockout in his streak, and of his career thus far, Buatsi faced then 15-0 Daniel Blenda Dos Santos.
Buatsi dispatched Dos Santos in just the fourth round with a vicious knockout and immediately got to his knees as he watched the medics tend to his opponent. He refused to celebrate as he waited for Dos Santos to come around.
Dos Santos would recover and has not yet been defeated again since that fight. He is scheduled to face Shakan Pitters for the European light-heavyweight title in April.
Speaking to Boxing King Media on the incident, Buatsi said:
“There’s a dude that I fought, Dos Santos. He didn’t get up for a while and I was a bit like ‘please just get up bro’.”
He was then asked whether he prayed and how he reacted to the knockout. He replied:
“I was praying I said, ‘please just get up, just get up, just get up.'”
Buatsi’s next opponent, Smith, also produced a scary knockout over Lenin Castillo in his light-heavyweight debut.
Joshua Buatsi snaps back at Anthony Yarde’s manager
Anthony Yarde is a name that has been mentioned alongside Buatsi’s for a while now.
Yarde holds a record of 26-3, with his three losses coming at the hands of Sergey Kovalev, Beterbiev, and Lyndon Arthur in a loss which he avenged.
Both Yarde and his manager, Tunde Ajayi, have been vocal about wanting the Buatsi fight. Yarde also said he wanted the Smith fight, but Smith claimed to be retired at the time.
In an interview with Box Nation, Buatsi said of a potential domestic dust-up with Yarde:
“It’s a fight that, as much as the public wants I also want. It’s just about when it fits in. […] It’s something I’m not shying away from.”
Clarifying accusations that it was Buatsi who didn’t want to fight Yarde, he said:
“This dude says a lot of things but […] the energy he has in these interviews, it’s non-existent in real life. […] When I see him in real life, he doesn’t say nothing. It’s all chat.”
Buatsi vs Smith will open the biggest card in boxing – Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2.
The co-main event, following recent last-minute developments, is now Joseph Parker, who recently opened up about depression, vs Martin Bakole, who has replaced Daniel Dubois after he was taken ill.
Eddie Hearn has revealed Bakole’s weakness, and believes Parker can get the job done. Hearn also revealed why Anthony Joshua was not the one to replace Dubois and face Parker, due to an ongoing injury.
Parker’s manager revealed Joe Joyce was a frontrunner for the Dubois replacement spot until Bakole stepped up.
Elsewhere on the card, Hamzah Sheeraz vies for his first world title against Carlos Adames. Sheeraz admits he won’t pray to beat Adames, as he sees it as an ‘unfair advantage.’
Zhilei Zhang, who has been training with LL Cool J, fights rising contender Agit Kabayel, who defeated Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov, both by stoppage, in his last two fights.
These fights and many more make up ‘The Last Crescendo’, a bill highly-touted as one of the best the sport has ever seen.