Joshua Buatsi defeats Dan Azeez on points in London barnstormer and secures world title shot
Also, Conor Benn defeats Peter Dobson in Las Vegas; Adam Azim retains European title, Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk rescheduled for May 18th and Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke confirmed for March 31st
Joshua Buatsi won a 12-round unanimous decision against Dan Azeez last night at Wembley Arena to capture the British title and secure a world title shot.
Buatsi dropped Azeez twice in the 11th round but the slippery canvas played its part in both knockdowns as the two British light heavyweights went toe-to-toe in the middle of the ring.
And Buatsi tried to go for the stoppage in the final round after landing a powerful left hook and uppercut, yet Azeez showed a strong chin and good survival skills.
Following two tentative early rounds, the bout began to heat up from round three with Azeez having success with the straight right hand and Buatsi firing back eye-catching combinations.
Despite being friends outside of boxing, there was no love lost between Buatsi and Azeez who produced an all-action contest that saw many close rounds.
However, Buatsi’s better boxing ability and physical strength proved to be the difference as Azeez struggled to push his rival back and was caught with clean body shots and sharp counterpunches throughout.
The three judges scored the contest 117-109, 117-109, and 116-110 in Buatsi’s favour and the Olympic bronze medallist could face the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol, who will fight on June 1st for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.
Conor Benn captures unanimous win over Peter Dobson in Vegas and slams Chris Eubank Jr
Conor Benn captured a wide points win against Peter Dobson last night in Las Vegas before labelling Chris Eubank Jr a ‘p***y’ in his post-fight interview.
Benn landed numerous flush right hands on Dobson but the American never seemed hurt and he was also able to land several power punches of his own, with neither man touching the canvas in an entertaining spectacle.
Eddie Hearn praised Benn’s performance against Dobson and expressed how he was happy to see his fighter go 12 rounds for the first time, before mentioning collapsed fight negotiations with Eubank Jr.
“I’m still absolutely baffled by Chris Eubank Jr,” said Hearn.
“People talk about him making 160 pounds. No one talks about Conor Benn moving up two divisions to fight him and he’ll criticise tonight, he’ll talk about this. But yet continues to turn down a payday three times bigger than he can get anywhere else.”
“So if he’s easy work and you want to make the biggest fight in the history of British boxing. Make it.”
And Benn, who captured his second consecutive victory on points following two failed drug tests for clomifene, also had choice words for Eubank Jr.
“He’s a ‘p***y’. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.”
Benn will receive the final verdict on whether he can box again in the UK by the end of February after last competing on home shores in April 2022 against Chris van Heerden.
Adam Azim retains European title with fifth-round knockout as Enock Poulsen suffers shoulder injury
Adam Azim made the first defence of his European super lightweight title against Enock Poulsen who suffered a shoulder injury in the fifth round.
Azim was outboxing Poulsen by using his superior hand speed and jab before the formerly unbeaten Dane turned away in pain and kneeled to the canvas following an exchange of punches and was counted out by the referee.
Despite winning in strange fashion, Azim looked the more skilled fighter from the opening bell and was up on all three judges' scorecards.
‘The Assassin’ showcased excellent shot selection in the second round by landing a sharp straight right hand and a powerful left hook to Poulsen’s body.
Then, in the fourth round, Azim continued his onslaught by connecting with a selection of straight right hands, left hooks, and fast jabs.
Round one was Poulsen’s best as he circled the ring and tried to be an elusive target for Azim, but the challenger still wasn’t able to land anything significant, apart from the odd jab.
Only 21 years old, Azim now boasts a professional record of 11-0, with eight knockouts.
In his post-fight interview on Sky Sports Azim said he wants to have a hometown bout in Slough next.
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk: Undisputed heavyweight fight rescheduled for May 18th and $10 million forfeit in place
The undisputed heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has been rescheduled for May 18th and there is a $10 million forfeit if someone withdraws from the contest.
Fury and Usyk were meant to clash on February 17th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999, but Fury pulled out two weeks before the event due to suffering a cut in sparring.
In a recent Instagram live video Fury said: “Nice little elbow right in the eye. Nearly cost me the biggest fight in my career. But what can you do? S*** happens and we move on.
“We keep moving forward and now we have a new date. Usyk crying his eyes out ‘Tyson should retire’. Oh, no retirement here motherf****. You're getting knocked out, knocked spark out.”
This comes after Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas condemned ‘The Gypsy King’ for his withdrawal.
Klimas told Ring Magazine: “Fury is a f***ng coward who will do anything not to face Usyk, and he asked his bitch to hit him with a frying pan in his brow. You can quote me word for word for that.”
And before the undisputed fight was rescheduled, Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk, even called for Fury to be stripped of the WBC title and made ‘champion in recess’ so Usyk could face a different boxer for all the belts at heavyweight.
Fabio Wardley set to defend British heavyweight title against Frazer Clarke on March 31st
Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke for the British heavyweight championship is confirmed for March 31st at the O2 Arena almost a year after purse bids were ordered.
On May 10th, 2023 Clarke was forced to pull out of purse bids for a fight against Wardley by Ben Shalom and Boxxer who claimed their fighter wasn’t ready for such a challenge.
However, last night at Wembley Arena before Buatsi-Azeez took place, Wardley and Clarke had their first official face-off.
“Look, it's too quick for him,” Wardley said in his in-ring interview.
“There was a reason why him and his team wouldn't let him fight me that long ago. They thought it was too soon for him then and it’s too soon for him now. He hasn’t had the right tests, the right fights along the way to build something like this.”
Wardley is coming off a career-best performance against David Adeleye whom he stopped in October on the undercard of Fury vs Francis Ngannou, while Clarke’s last bout in September saw him claim a sixth-round stoppage over Dave Allen.
Clarke responded: “I know I’m the best fighter he’s going to step into the ring with.
“I know what I’m capable of. I’ll give him credit as well but I don’t need to talk about his background. I don’t need to talk about my amateur background. Here and now the best man will win and the best man is me.”
The Commonwealth title and two undefeated records will also be on the line when Wardley and Clarke collide next month.
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About Daniele D’Alessio: Over the last few years Dan has written hundreds of articles for websites such as GiveMeSport, Sportskeeda, WorldInSport, NY Fights and Fights ATW in addition to conducting several interviews with professional and amateur boxers.