Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn appears sorrowful over the turn of Joshua Buatsi’s professional boxing career after the British light-heavyweight left the promotion to sign with rival UK promotion Boxxer instead. Buatsi was scheduled to fight fellow Brit Dan Azeez on Saturday, October 21, but the match was postponed after the latter suffered a back injury.
Joshua Buatsi (17-0, 13 KO’s) signed his first professional boxing contract with Matchroom following a notable amateur career, until switching to Boxxer, which holds an exclusive broadcasting deal in the UK with major network Sky Sports―where Buatsi had fought for most of his career when signed to Matchroom, before the promotion eventually signed an exclusive broadcasting deal with DAZN in 2018.
Under Matchroom, he had been close to facing WBA light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KO’s), but he turned down a contract to fight the Russian champion, citing issues with Matchroom regarding his value and monetary compensation. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Buatsi had signed with the Boxxer promotional outfit.
Eddie Hearn has had a relationship with Joshua Buatsi that has spanned for more than half a decade, and the promoter could not help express his aching for the light-heavyweight’s career following his move away from Matchroom and the subsequent postponement of a pivotal match against Dan Azeez (20-0, 13 KO’s).
“I’m more gutted for Buatsi because it’s brutal to see where his career has gone,” Hearn told Boxing Social.
“He was on such a good run. I really feel like he was ready to fight Bivol at that time. It’s just kind of… you know…
“Hopefully, they can reschedule the date ASAP.“
Following Joshua Buatsi’s signing with Boxxer, he went on to face Pawel Stepien (18-1-1, 12 KO’s), working his way up the ladder to land a world title opportunity again after allegedly refusing to fight Bivol, which led to his split with Matchroom.
Buatsi’s postponed October 21st fight against Azeez would have pitted him against a domestic contender that he has been familiar with due to sparring sessions, and could have potentially seen him get an opportunity again against either of the two champions in the 175 lbs division.
Unfortunately, with the injury Azeez incurred earlier this week, he will now have to wait in line again for his next chance. With a return date for Azeez still unknown, there is every possibility that Azeez will take a fight in the interim.
