In a huge bombshell, the talented light heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi (16-0, 13 KOs) has left Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom & DAZN to sign a multi-fight deal with BOXXER to fight on Sky.
In choosing to sign with BOXXER/Sky, the 30-year-old Buatsi could soon be fighting unbeaten contender Dan Azeez in a mouth-watering fight. That would be by far the biggest fight of the 2016 Olympian Buatsi’s six-year professional career.
How long BOXXER CEO Ben Shalom intends to wait before positioning Buatsi to fight for a world title is unknown. Buatsi is currently ranked #1 with the WBA so he could challenge champion Dmitry Bivol very soon.
Buatsi will be fighting on May 6th, and he plans on maneuvering himself into a world title fight soon. He felt that if he had stayed at DAZN, he wouldn’t have gotten the attention from boxing fans on that app, as he questioned whether he was being seen.
“I want people to say, ‘We know what channel to turn to.’ I won’t tell you to download an app or type in your email. During my last fight, I asked myself, ‘How many watched it?’ I don’t think many people saw it,” said Joshua Buatsi to the Mirror on why he left Matchroom/DAZN in favor of BOXXER/Sky.
“Fighters like Joshua and Dan [Azeez], they need to think, ‘I can fight but come into my world,'” said Johnny Nelson to Sky Sports about Joshua Buatsi.
“May 6th, I want to put on a show and start in where I left off,” said Buatsi. “I’ve got good rankings, so I’ve just got to maneuver myself carefully and hopefully get a world title shot.”
“Luckily, he’s in the greatest divisions in the world. There are huge opportunities, and at the domestic level, there are massive fights to be made,” said Ben Shalom, the CEO of BOXXER, talking about Buatsi.
“That’s the thing with Joshua. He wants these fights. He’s coming to make these fights. Even when we were talking about him coming over, he was saying, ‘This is the fight I want.’ He doesn’t want to duck anyone.
“He wants the biggest tests, and he wants to be recognized for it. We can 100% deliver that, and as he said, his rankings are second to none and he’s going to get his opportunities. What we have here is a role model.
“He wants to spread his message, and he wants to spread his goodwill. When you feel you’re not getting that and you feel your not achieving inside and outside the ring, that’s what we want to help him with at Sky and BOXXER. I think the next 18 months, two years, and three years is going to be very, very special,” said Shalom.
