Buatsi: It is no old pals’ act
JOSHUA BUATSI and Dan Azeez are old sparring partners and old pals.
But all that will go out of the window when the lightheavyweights do battle on Saturday – with Buatsi vowing to rise to his latest challenge against fellow Londoner Azeez (below).
Buatsi, 30, said: “There have been challenges all along.
“There has been the Craig ‘Spider’ Richards fight, the Ricards Bolotniks fight, the Marko Calic fight.
“In the Calic fight, I had an eye closed from the third round to the seventh, when I knocked him down, and I had to deal with that.
“Bolotniks came to England and knocked out some of our top lightheavyweights, the Richards fight was a good test and one that I came out on top of.
“So I have had my fair share of challenges and these are fights other people may forget about.
“But they are experiences I don’t forget about.
“I rise to the occasion and, when the bell goes with Dan, I’ll do it again. “All the experiences I have accumulated over the years, through the ups and downs, have put me in a good place.”
The clash at London’s O2 Arena will be the 18th of Buatsi’s professional career after he won lightheavyweight bronze at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
His ambition is to progress to a world title.
He added: “After my fight against Pawel Stepien in May, I wanted to fight in August, but this was the first opportunity I have had, so I made myself available. And, against Dan, there is no plan to how things are going to go.
“What I can expect is he’ll try to win and he can expect the same from me.”
Watch Buatsi vs Azeez live on Sky Sports on October 21 from The O2 in London. Tickets via BOXXER.COM