I’ll take Joshua route right to the top
JOSHUA BUATSI is ready to follow the path his manager and mentor Anthony Joshua laid down for him.
And he knows he can phone a friend if he ever has doubts about where his career is going.
The Rio 2016 light-heavyweight bronze medallist makes his longawaited professional debut tonight against Carlos Mena at the O2 in London.
Buatsi, 24, is being managed by current IBF and WBA heavyweight champion Joshua, who also won an Olympic medal – gold at London 2012.
Buatsi was inspired by the poster of Joshua hanging on the wall at GB Boxing headquarters in Sheffield as he prepared for his crack at fame four years later.
He was also able to watch at first hand when Joshua made inroads in the pro game, eventually resulting in him becoming a world champion in the paid ranks.
Snubbed
After winning his bronze Buatsi found that, like Joshua, he had become hot property among boxing promoters, impressing them with his two stoppage wins and a wide points victory.
Only a semi-final defeat by Adilbek Niyazymbetov, of Kazakhstan, stopped him going all the way. Amazingly, Buatsi snubbed the advances of Floyd Mayweather to sign a deal with promoter Eddie Hearn and have Joshua as his manager.
“I don’t know if I will be a world champion like him,” said Buatsi.
“But Joshua has laid down the path for so many by showing that if you put in the work, it will happen for you. It was so inspirational to see where he comes from and what he has achieved in so little time.
“A standard has been set, a path has been set. If one person can do it then why can’t others?”
Buatsi, who was born in Ghana but moved to London as a child, took almost 12 months to make up his mind on what path to take.
He recently graduated with a 2:1 in Sports Science and Management from St Mary’s University.
“I moved here for a better education and boxing wasn’t part of the plan but here we are now,” he said.