Joshua Buatsi was a keen observer of the light heavyweight showdown between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol last weekend.
The British fighter has long been building his career having turned professional after winning a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympic Games.
So far he has had 19 fights and has won them all, 13 of which have come via stoppage. In that time he has beaten the likes of countrymen Liam Conroy and Dan Azeez, the latter of which gave him the British and Commonwealth light heavyweight titles, while he has also held the WBA international light-heavyweight title in the past.
His most recent outing was a split decision victory over Willy Hutchinson in September at Wembley Stadium in which Buatsi floored his man twice and won the WBO interim light-heavyweight belt, meaning he is high up the list of possible opponents for the now undisputed champion of the division, Beterbiev.
Beterbiev beat Bivol via a majority decision in a close fight over 12 rounds but many in attendance felt that Bivol had done enough to get his hand raised. Speaking to Boxing Now, Buatsi revealed he also thought Bivol should have taken it on the scorecars.
“I’ll be honest with you, I genuinely had Bivol winning. When I heard the last score cards I thought OK two judges have seen it the opposite way but the third judge indicated that Bivol had won it but look, that was just my opinion.”
He was then asked if the damage to Bivol’s eye had something to do with swaying the judges.
“Both men had bruised faces. It’s 12 rounds of fighting the best of each other. In my opinion, I thought Bivol had won.”
While Buatsi may be most keen on pursuing world honours against Beterbiev, fans have been clamouring for him to face off with fellow contender Anthony Yarde in what would be a superb all British showdown.
