Looks a decent test the unbeaten Frenchman.
MAIN EVENT:
Joshua Buatsi vs Daniel Dos Santos
Lerrone Richards vs Giovanni de Carolis
Gamal Yafai vs Jason Cunningham
Tommy McCarthy vs Alexandru Jur
Dalton Smith vs Lee Appleyard
Joshua Buatsi can become a world-beater by making slight changes to his style
Buatsi returns to the ring on Saturday night as he fights for the first time under new trainer Virgil Hunter
Joshua Buatsi has superstar written all over him, box office in and out of the ring, a genuinely poster boy for our sport.
But if he wants to fulfil his potential in a red hot light heavyweight division he needs to add two key dimensions to his game.
Buatsi is too upright and still, which makes him an easy target for good fighters, as he discovered in his last bout against the talented Marko Calic.
He must learn how to move his upper body with rhythm so that he can slip punches and stay in punching distance.
This will allow him to strike back at his opponent without having to adjust his feet again.
He also needs to adjust his height when attacking his opponents, to bend his knees so that he can throw body punches and vary attacks to body and head.
I know he is eager to fight for world titles but there are some seriously tough fights at home before he reaches for the stars.
As an Olympic bronze medallist it was clear Buatsi had talent. Born in Accra he has that Ghanaian hardness about him.
He can change from long to middle range beautifully. He can KO with a single shot or with a combination, firing off long left hooks and raking right hands.
But as he found against Calic he can present too straightforward a target.
He makes the third defence of his WBA International title against Daniel Dos Santos in Manchester on Saturday.
After that he will need at least two more fights to iron out the flaws before he even starts thinking about the likes of WBO champion Joe Smith or WBA champ Dimitry Bivol.
Calic caused Buatsi problems early on. He’s big at the weight with long levers. He boxed well off the jab and found the target with the right over the top.
Buatsi’s face was starting to mark up, his left eye particularly. He had to change the narrative and did, by closing the distance and taking away the Calic reach.
He deserves credit for that. The ability to adjust in fights and change tack is central to his prospects.
He began to turn the tide in the fifth and when he sensed blood in the seventh finished like a train to prove his mettle as well as his class.
But as he moves up a level opponents switch it up to, and he needs to be better prepared to cope in elite company.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/joshua-buatsi-can-become-world-24111527
Could be wrong here but Dos Santos could be a real unknown handful tonight, ex street thug who joined the military and sorted himself out, looks a big lump as well.
Decent record but again all unknown opposition and there’s little footage of him, if he can box a bit it should be interesting.
Gamal Yafai vs Jason Cunningham is on now and it is a very entertaining contest. Yafai has been down.
Yafai down again heavily in the 6th.
Yafai needs a knockout and is trying everything in the 10th. What an exciting fight.
Cunningham holds on and wins on points.
Only partially paying attention to this tonight but Yafai-Cunningham looked to be a good contest. A big upset win!
Yes it was a very good fight.
Lerrone Richards boxing well but the contest is not exciting at all.
Let’s see how long the 1/100 favourite Buatsi lasts for this one then…
Richards shutout wasn’t all that good to watch, and fear his lack of power will mean it will always be like that. Very slick, but lacks that pop for excitement.
Buatsi starts razor sharp in the 1st round hunting down a negative Dos Santos.
1 nil Buatsi
Commentators comparing him to Andre Ward.. fucking ridiculous
1-0 Buatsi.
If it isnt 10-0 he’s not going to make it.
Dos Santos down in the 2nd round and gone southpaw. Looks way out of his depth.
2 nil
2-0 buatsi.
Miracle?
Can’t last much longer this surely. Matter of time til Buatsi ends it.
Dos Santos spoiling and surviving already in the 3rd round. Rugby tackles Buatsi.
3 nil
Yep! That was brutal!
Buatsi brutally knocks out Dos Santos in the 4th round with a big right hand that hit the southpaw standing opponent.
Easy work for Buatsi.