British Light-Heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi did not necessarily impress with his win over Polish contender Pawel Stepien but did go through the much-needed ten rounds to grab a necessary victory following an almost year-long absence from the ring. Their match was held at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on Saturday, May 6th. Perhaps the most notable point of this bout were the scorecards of 100-90, 98-92 and 97-94, with the former two scores not reflecting what was essentially a closer fight.
Pawel Stepien (18-1-1, 12 KO’s), 32, came into the match as the best Polish fighter at 175 lbs while Joshua Buatsi (17-0, 13 KO’s) is recognized as one of the best Brits in the division ― in a weight class that already sees an abundant myriad of talented British fighters. Despite the clear talent between the two fighters, their match was a rather underwhelming display as it seemed like both weren’t willing to cross over into higher gears.
The pace that the two held from round 1 to 12 did not match the top level match that the fight was billed to be. Though neither were necessarily gun-shy or tentative, there was a clear sense that they were pulling back somewhat when it came to both their power and speed, as if they were both not willing to cross the line to seriously hurt one another.
It became clear that Joshua Buatsi won most of the rounds. His rock-solid jabs and occasional spurts of combinations certainly kept Pawel Stepien on his toes, but the Polish contender also made it hard for the Brit in several rounds and clearly won more than the scorecards suggested.
It was however, not a lively slugfest or even a technical chess match. Both Buatsi and Stepien seemed unwilling to truly hurt each other which made the 10 rounds almost tedious to watch. Notably, there seemed to be an emphasis on defense for both sides which likely caused the flow of the match to slow down as it did.
The latter rounds both fighters seemed to have gotten into their own rhythm which resulted in a slightly higher pace as opposed to earlier, but nothing too spectacular happened and by then it was already quite late for an increase in activity.
Joshua Buatsi was declared the winner by unanimous decision after twelve rounds, while Pawel Stepien did prove his talent even with his strong and solid foundation in the defensive fundamentals of boxing and overall toughness. Though Buatsi was expected to win more convincingly, he had not fought in almost a year and seemed affected by ring rust, which may have influenced him (or his team) to take a more cautious approach against Stepien.
The event was not thoroughly built with established names in (British) boxing, but did see Light-Heavyweight prospect and Olympic silver medalist Ben Whittaker (3-0, 2 KO’s) continue making a name for himself in the professional ranks with a dominant and devastating stoppage win over Jordan Grant ― whose counts one of his losses against Tommy Fury.
Women’s Welterweight British/Welsh contender Lauren Price (4-0, 1 KO’s) also showed herself to be a force to be reckoned with her widely dominant win over fellow Brit Kirstie Bavington (7-4-2, 2 KO’s) who she virtually won every round against. Price’s performance comes just a week after another British contender in that division impressed with her win when she became a world champion; Sandy Ryan. Given both fighters are at similar stages at their careers with around a handful of fights, a prospective domestic match-up could be in the works for the two female fighters in the near future.
