Pondering death, retirement and finally Joshua Buatsi: Willy Hutchinson is a fighter reborn

When Willy Hutchinson walks to the ring at London’s Wembley Stadium to fight Joshua Buatsi, he will do so fueled by the memory of how recently he struggled with suicidal thoughts.

In the space of only six months, his career has been transformed. On Sept. 21, against the widely admired Buatsi in what represents his biggest fight, Hutchinson will perhaps be considered Buatsi’s most dangerous opponent.

It was in March, after a period spent rebuilding his career following his unexpected defeat in 2021 to Lennox Clarke, that Hutchinson returned to contention for a big fight by stopping Martin Houben. He was rewarded by being matched in June with Craig Richards – who in 2022 gave Buatsi his toughest fight – and responded, as the underdog, by inflicting Richards’ most convincing defeat.

That none other than Dmitry Bivol, who will fight Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed light heavyweight title on Oct. 12, inflicted the first of Richards’ three defeats should not be overlooked, but the perspective Hutchinson has gained since losing to Clarke only two months before then means that, to him, it has come to feel almost irrelevant.

The Scot, 25, lost in the boxing ring because he had almost entirely lost his way in life. Lacking in purpose and direction, despite the natural talent that in 2016 made him the first from his country to win gold at an amateur world championships – having previously also won the European junior championships in 2014 – there was also a time that he concluded that his career was at an end.

Hutchinson is preparing for the 31-year-old Buatsi at a gym near Malaga, Spain. His presence there is perhaps the first in a succession of serendipitous developments that put he and his opponent on course to fight; but for the collapse of plans for Buatsi to fight Anthony Yarde, Hutchinson’s victory over Richards would not have been enough.

“I was on the verge of not wanting to be here,” he regardless tells BoxingScene. “I had personal issues in my life. Eventually, there was a time in my life I didn’t even want to box ever again. That was about three years ago. I didn’t even want to box again – I was a retired veteran.

“I had personal issues in my personal life. I got a phone call by a little man called Mirko Wolf [my trainer] who’s sat beside me who saved my life, and here I am today. A little man that I thought would never ring me rung me and got me to Spain and I’ve never looked back since. 

“I got off the plane, was passing the gym, I blew air out my mouth and I said, ‘Man I feel better already’, and I’ve never looked back since. That is the honest truth. Being at home [was part of the problem]. Being at home [Carstairs]. Being a young, stupid young man with a pot full of money and nowhere to go.

“Waking up at three in the day; going to bed at five in the morning. Nothing to wake up to. Having stupid personal issues; there’s a lot of stuff that can put you in a bad place. It’s all in God’s hands, isn’t it? God’s great. God is great, my brother.”

The reference to God was just one hint that Hutchinson, for all of his progress, has not only far from forgotten what it was he endured, but the extent to which it has changed him. The damaging defeat inflicted, via stoppage, by Clarke in a fight for the British and Commonwealth titles brought another. 

Considerably more recently he may again have reflected on how fragile is any fighter’s career. Joe Joyce’s is beyond repair as a consequence of his defeat by Derek Chisora; he and Hutchinson made their professional debuts on the same promotion in October 2017, when Joyce’s victory over Ian Lewison – who had to be helped from the arena as a consequence of the injuries suffered against Joyce, and who hasn’t fought since – represented the main event.

“In reality I should have beat that man with my eyes closed and hopping on one foot and that is the honest truth,” Hutchinson says. “That should have happened, but, listen, this is boxing, man. This is boxing; this is what happens. Anything can happen, man.

“Listen, it happens, doesn’t it? People make mistakes; I make more mistakes than anybody in the world. You know, I make more mistakes than anyone, so it’s one of them – you just got to take it on the chin and push on.

“The only incentive I have, brother, just now is beating Buatsi and then look forward, you know what I mean?

“I couldn’t really have cared less [about people having me an underdog against Richards]. I never really looked at the impact of the underdog, you know? I mean, look at Joe Joyce and Chisora. You know what I mean? It’s mad. But if you believe in yourself enough, then none of that matters, does it?

“The secret, I believe, is me being happy in myself and enjoying what I’m doing. Obviously everyone gets ups and downs and that and I believe I’m very happy and I’m in a very good place and if you’re in a good place in yourself mentally, the rest is easy, man – the rest is enjoying it. Have fun – there’s no point in doing all that camping and then, like, I’ve been away from home for six months and then – you know what I mean? You may as well enjoy it.

“The ups and downs – even in yourself, it doesn’t even need to be anything. It’s just your mind can wonder, can’t it? You get good people in your life and bring it back to where you need to be.

“I believe I’m more mature now than I was a year ago. If you’d seen me a year ago and seen where I’m at now, I believe I’ve matured a lot more and I know what’s in front of me, do you know what I mean? Sometimes you could sit and you think, ‘Man, this is millions of miles away, what on earth is happening here?’. I’ve just won a title, and it feels like it’s so far away, but it’s actually on the tip of your finger – you just don’t know it until it tips over.

“The physical part has always been there. I’ve always been as strong as a bull from being 10 years old, you know what I mean? The physical part – it’s more in you. For me, mentally was the biggest part of all of it. You see, if I’m happy I’ll beat anybody and everybody. There’s no other person I couldn’t beat. That’s my honest truth, and I truly, from the bottom of my heart, believe it. You know what I mean? This is dangerous. Physically, I’ve always been physically so strong.

“[It’s] a bit hard to explain, but just in me own self. I think it’s a lot to do with maturing as a person – as a man – you know?”

Hutchinson’s struggles to explain prompted an intervention from his trainer Mirko Wolf, who – sounding not unlike his fighter – said: “Brother, I was very worried because, I mean, as he told you, like, he was in a bad place all the way around. Not just sports; private; like family. Like, there’s a couple of stories attached to it that could make anyone miserable – not just Willy. Anyone. And sometimes it’s just good if you have good people that are genuinely trying to help you. 

“And it was not like about business or anything – just a friend helping a friend. And like I said, at that point I couldn’t care if it’s boxing or not. I want the man to be good because he has a clean heart. And he’s a good guy; he’s a good individual; good human being. And as Willie expressed, like that stabilised over the past couple of years when we were over here in Spain – he’s just like in a good position.

“He’s super stable and every time he stepped into the ring, he upped his game every single time. And that’s why you’re gonna see even a different animal in the Buatsi fight and then we’re just super relaxed – super tranquilo – as I said.

“You know today, right? You’re on the phone with me, and I’m on the phone with you – how close do you think it’s gonna happen for me to not make it back to this house?

“When you have your downs in life every time you take that and you take it on the chin you have two options – it’s either you give up or you grow with it. You take it as a lesson and you grow. Willy chose to learn from it, grow from it, and fulfil his destiny, which is being the best on planet earth in this sport, and we’re coming very close to it. 

“It’s just like it’s right there within reaching distance, isn’t it? Yeah, God willing. Everything – like the whole world will see what Willie is all about 21st of September.”

Is there a chance Buatsi, so desperate for a richer, higher profile fight with his fellow Londoner Yarde, is overlooking him?

“Nah, he’s not overlooking me – trust me,” Hutchinson says. “If there’s one thing, that man will be far from looking over for me. He knows. He’s not stupid. But Yarde would be an easier fight for him. And that’s the honest truth. 

“You’ve got to look at it. I’ve saw a lot of Yarde. Yarde’s been in three or four of the hardest fights of his life. 

Yarde’s got a fight in him now, and Buatsi – well, it will all come out on the 21st of September, won’t it? Yeah I do [think Buatsi would have beaten Yarde].

“Buatsi is good. He’s a good, strong fighter but he’s just on the similar lines as Craig Richards. And I said it about Craig Richards and I’m going to say it about Buatsi – I’m going to punch absolute holes in them.”

Declan Warrington previously spoke to Hutchinson’s opponent Joshua Buatsi (https://www.boxingscene.com/anthony-yarde-joshua-buatsi-touch-over-future-business–184945)