Buatsi’s box office but has to learn the ropes at home before reaching for stars

JOSHUA BUATSI v DANIEL BLENDA DOS SANTOS TONIGHT, MANCHESTER ARENA

JOSHUA BUATSI has superstar written all over him, box office in and out of the ring, a genuine poster boy for our sport.

But if he wants to fulfil his potential in a red-hot light heavyweight division, he needs to add two key dimensions to his game.

Buatsi is too upright and still, which makes him an easy target for good fighters, as he discovered in his last bout against the talented Marko Calic.

He must learn how to move his upper body with rhythm, so that he can slip punches and stay in punching distance.

This will allow him to strike back at his opponent without having to adjust his feet again.

He also needs to adjust his height when attacking his opponents, to bend his knees so that he can throw body punches, and vary attacks to body and head.

I know he is eager to fight for world titles, but there are some seriously tough fights at home before he reaches for the stars.

Callum Johnson, Lyndon Arthur, Anthony Yarde and Craig Richards would all be tremendous learning fights for him.

As an Olympic bronze medallist, it was clear Buatsi had talent.

Born in Accra he has that Ghanaian hardness about him.

He can change from long to middle range beautifully. He can KO with a single shot or with a combination, firing off long left hooks and raking right hands.

But as he found against Calic, he can present too straightforward a target.

He makes the third defence of his WBA International title against Daniel Blenda Dos Santos in Manchester tonight (the pair at the weigh-in, left).

After that he will need at least two more fights to iron out the flaws before he even starts thinking about the likes of WBO champion Joe Smith or WBA champ Dimitry Bivol.

Calic caused Buatsi problems early on. He’s big at the weight with long levers. He boxed well off the jab and found the target with the right over the top.

Buatsi’s face was starting to mark up, his left eye particularly. He had to change the narrative and did, by closing the distance and taking away the Calic reach.

He deserves credit for that. The ability to adjust in fights and change tack is central to his prospects.

He began to turn the tide in the fifth and, sensing blood in the seventh, finished like a train to prove his mettle as well as his class.

But as he moves up a level, opponents switch it up, and he needs to be better prepared to cope in elite company.