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The slow burning star ready to explode and upstage Beterbiev vs Bivol on the greatest ever fight card
When I think about the career of Joshua Buatsi, I think of the Robert Frost poem ‘The Road Not Taken’.
Frost was an American poet who wrote eloquently and prodigiously about rural life, and ‘The Road Not Taken’, while of its time, is one of his most popular works.
Taken by some to be a poem simply about joyous self-assertion and following your own path, the composition is actually a bit more layered than that. I always felt Frost was pointing out that in life, whichever way we go, whichever route we take, we are sure to miss something good on the other path.
Buatsi’s career to this point has been the very definition of a slow burner. He claimed a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and made his pro debut in July 2017.
That first pro victory, a second-round stoppage of Cuban Carlos Mena at the O2 Arena, happened almost eight years ago now and, while he won the British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles in February 2024 (and previously held the British title at 175lbs in 2019), he has also caught a bit of criticism from fans for reaching the age of 31 and not yet fighting for a world title.
Not only that, but boxing casuals are also unhappy that he has not even settled his beef yet with London light-heavyweight rival Anthony Yarde!
Buatsi’s relatively slow progress on the pro scene has also been magnified by how quickly other Olympians have progressed.
Shakur Stevenson for example took silver at 56kg in 2016 but has held multiple world championships in three weight classes - from featherweight to lightweight – since turning over after Rio.
Robson Conceição and Robeisy Ramirez also medalled at the 2016 Olympics, and both have been world champions as professionals since ditching the amateur vest.
Keyshawn Davis – who was in the next Olympic cycle in 2020 and won a silver medal at lightweight in Tokyo after losing to brilliant Cuban Andy Cruz in the final – won the WBO lightweight title in just his thirteenth fight after beating Denys Berinchyk recently.
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Therefore, Buatsi’s patient approach is a bit of an anomaly. The amiable Londoner is 19-0 (13) and has a perfect ledger so must wonder at times why he has attracted the censure he has in some circles?
Buatsi’s polished skills and consistency has made plenty of us long suspect he is the best of the British light-heavies, a quality if stagnant division that also contain Yarde, Callum Smith, Zach Parker and Willy Hutchinson.
Yet despite owning an Olympic medal and boxing regularly on some huge platforms, ‘JB’ is far from a household name at this point.
Indeed, the Croydon man’s best wins have come against Hutchinson, Dan Azeez and Craig Richards and he gets Liverpool’s Smith next on the stacked February 22 card in Riyadh.
A fight to make and break careers
Talked about for a while now, a light-heavyweight fight between Smith and Buatsi is finally happening and should be a corker. It’s a huge fight for both men and a win for either would kickstart some momentum in a division full of sharks at world level.
The heavy-handed Smith 30-2 (22) held the WBA and Ring magazine super-middleweight titles from 2018 to 2020 and will see this as maybe his last roll of the dice at the age of 34. Buatsi, a man of faith, will be hoping he can prevail in this intriguing all-British clash on foreign soil and in doing so put himself in line for a shot at the light-heavyweight world titles later this year.
Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol are the main men at 175 and duke it out in a fascinating rematch in the main event on February 22. Buatsi is confident he could fight the winner of that one if he gets past Smith, while David Benavidez’s move to light-heavyweight has also added a layer of intrigue to an already stacked division at world level.
It’s fair to say that everything is on the line for all the combatants involved in this huge February bill in Saudi. Yet due to his plodding path to world glory thus far, defeat for Buatsi at this point is unthinkable.
Make no mistake, if he gets past Smith (and the bookies just about fancy him to) Buatsi would not shy away from fighting either of the top two at 175lbs. He is a serious individual. A serious fighter and one who has suffered for his art.
Suffering is a part of our human condition. It’s inevitable and generally considered to be a negative thing. We see suffering and we want to eliminate it. However, it’s suffering that is the furnace in which great athletes are formed.
If Buatsi can beat Smith and then fight and win a world title thereafter, his meandering, at times muddled road to glory will have been fully justified. And if it does happen, I’d like to think that somewhere, somehow Robert Frost might be looking down and smiling.
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