Joshua Buatsi (18-0, 13 KOs) and Willy Hutchinson (18-1, 13 KOs) have agreed to fight for the WBO interim 175-lb strap next, averting a purse bid for the clash.
Potential World Title Shot in 2025
The winner of the Buatsi-Hutchinson fight will have the chance to battle for the full WBO belt at some point against the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol contest winner.
If everything goes right, the Buatsi vs. Hutchinson winner will battle for a world title against the Beterbiev-Bivol winner in the first half 2025.
The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Buatsi, 31, has failed to take advantage of the promise that he had when he turned professional in 2017.
Buatsi: Underachieving Talent
If Buatsi gets a chance to fight for a world title, it’ll be interesting to see how he performs. Buatsi is a textbook example of a fighter with a failure to launch.
His career should have been much further along than it is now, but he’s failed to take risks and stay active to become a star or at least find out if he had what it takes to be a world champion at 175.
With all the hype that went into his career early on, the fans and the promoters will finally get to see if he was what they thought he was. I think it’s already pretty clear that Buatsi isn’t the fighter some had thought he was. That’s been proven already many times, unfortunately, with the way Buatsi has struggled against domestic-level fighters.
There had been high hopes for him initially, but he’s failed to make the right moves with his career. Moreover, he’s looked average in many of his fights. He should have fought Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, but it likely wouldn’t have worked out well for him.
Hutchinson: The Young Upstart
Hutchinson, 25, might be too young and spry for Buatsi, a one-trick pony with only power and not much boxing skills. Buatsi recently labored to a 12-round decision over Dan Azeez on February 3rd and didn’t look overly impressive in that outing.
In contrast, Hutchinson looked outstanding in his last fight, beating Craig Richards by a 12-round unanimous decision on June 1st in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hutchinson had Richards hurt several times in the fight but couldn’t put him away. The kind of shots that Hutchinson hit Richards with in that fight might have proven too much for Buatsi if he were on the receiving end.
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