PEACE & DIET
Buatsi’s bored in the USA... but it beats being tempted to eat
JOSHUA BUATSI reckons being locked away in Hayward in California gives him the hunger to succeed – and keeps him away from family food gatherings.
The British light-heavyweight is set to face longtime pal and fellow unbeaten foe Dan Azeez at Wembley Arena tonight.
Buatsi, 30, has been training with Virgil Hunter over in the US for the last three years and believes he’s blossoming under Amir Khan and Andre Ward’s old coach.
But it means long stints away from home for the Ghana-born Londoner in the quiet city of Hayward, just under 30 miles from San Francisco.
It suits Buatsi to be bored staring out the window between training sessions at the gym because it means he is not getting invited out to eat all the time with friends and family like he was when training at home.
“Where I am in the States there is nothing to do but boxing, so for that purpose it is superb,” said Buatsi, the Rio Olympic 2016 bronze medallist.
“What do I do when not training? I literally look outside and think ‘I wish I was at home’. “There’s nothing to do.
“A prison camp would be harsh to say but I feel like I’m in the best atmosphere to prepare to the best of my abilities.
“I have a lot of family and friends that always want to meet up when I’m in England. There’s always some sort of food gathering and, as you know, we are in a sport where weight is quite important.
“There are too many opportunities in England to go out to eat.”
Buatsi is heading into his 18th fight of what has been a career yet to catch fire.
The Londoner was chased by the likes of Floyd Mayweather when he starred at the Games but eventually signed with Eddie Hearn.
That relationship turned sour and his switch to Ben Shalom and Boxxer, along with Sky, is subject to a legal challenge from Hearn and Matchroom.
He was also named in a recent report in the Sunday Times which claimed he had links to Mazhar Majeed, the sports agent who spent time in jail for a cricket fixing scandal.
“We’ve all got friends and people that we know but I’ve been self-managed since I left 258.
“He’s someone I know but I know a lot of people,” said Buatsi.
“I’m self-managed.”
But it has all added to the mix of what has been a slow-burning professional career to date which has had promotional and management changes with not enough activity.
Now Buatsi hopes this fight can put him into world-title contention with the winner promised a shot at the WBA light-heavyweight title currently held by Dmitry Bivol.
“I always make this reference that I’m not sat here as 17-6 or 17-5, I’m 170,” added Buatsi.
“It’s a good position to be in and we are within touching distance of the world titles.”