It would be wrong to say that beating Craig Richards gave Willy Hutchinson a much needed shot of confidence.
Hutchinson, a 25-year-old light heavyweight, was the underdog ahead of his fight with Richards on the June “5 vs 5” card, but he thrived on the attention he received and bounced into the fight with a seemingly unshakeable belief in his ability.
Scotland’s Hutchinson (18-1, 13 KOs) backed up his words and put in a superb display to outfight and outbox Richards, and his decision victory earned him an interim light heavyweight title fight with Olympic bronze medalist and British and Commonwealth champion Joshua Buatsi (18-0, 13 KOs). The two will fight on Riyadh Season’s latest offering at London’s Wembley Stadium on Sept. 21.
If Wednesday’s opening press conference is anything to go by, Hutchinson is carrying the same level of self-belief into his fight with Buatsi, and this time the Scot may just be able to bolster his claims with hard evidence.
Hutchinson, who won the 2016 Youth World Championships as an amateur, knows he will handle the big occasion and perform when it matters the most, and he could certainly argue that he beat Richards in clearer fashion than Buatsi managed when he outpointed his fellow Londoner back in 2022.
“I’m always bundling with confidence,” Hutchinson said. “I’m the wrong person not to have confidence. I’m grateful for everything. It’s a massive card, and like I said for the last one, I’m ready to get the job done with him and move on to the next one. I’m soaking it all up and enjoying myself.
“I think he’s very similar to Craig Richards, if you want to know the truth. That’s the God’s honest truth. I think he’s very similar, if not the same level, as the man i just beat, so I’m very, very confident of getting the job done against him and moving on.”
Hutchinson was moved smartly into position to contest for the interim belt.
On May 29, the WBO issued a purse bid order for a long awaited fight between Buatsi and Anthony Yarde. The order was dependent on Yarde personally notifying the governing body of his intention to move ahead with the fight.
Yarde, currently embroiled in a contractual dispute with Queensberry, failed to meet the WBO’s deadline, so the promoter moved quickly to put Hutchinson in the picture.
On June 2, within 24 hours of Hutchinson’s win over Richards, Andy Ayling e-mailed the WBO on Queensberry’s behalf to request that he be considered for the opportunity to fight Buatsi for the interim belt, stating that he was ready, willing and able to move ahead with the fight. The governing body accepted the request.
Buatsi has been plagued by inactivity throughout his career, and rather than spending any more time waiting for Yarde, he and his team elected to keep moving forward and fight Hutchinson on the biggest show Britain will host this year.
The winner will be next in line for a fight with the victor of the upcoming undisputed light heavyweight title fight between WBC, WBO and IBF champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol.
“They’ve both got impeccable amateur backgrounds. They’ve both boxed since a very young age and done it at the highest level. I think it’s Willy’s time now,” said Hutchinson promoter Frank Warren, who shares his fighter’s confidence. “He showed in his last fight that he can beat a world class operator, and I thought he boxed extremely well on the night. Joshua is a world-class fighter, there’s no doubt about it. But I genuinely feel – and it’s the reason we were really pushing for this fight – that Willy can beat him. That’s why he’s here: to go and win.”
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