Joshua Buatsi defeats Dan Azeez with classy performance: Results, highlights, play-by-play

Joshua Buatsi and Dan Azeez are old friends and sparring partners, but they won’t let that get in the way of a great little matchup tonight. There’s no world titles on the line, but there’s still a lot at stake: the winner will have quite a good shot to be considered the third-best light-heavyweight in the world, after Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, and be in a good position for a fight with one of them, should they first fight each other or not. In theory this is an eliminator for the WBA belt, which Bivol holds. Eliminators don’t always mean as much as they should, but still – it’s an important fight in terms of position in the divbision.

They both really need it to happen now, too. Buatsi looked classy on his way to a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics and turned pro to some hype- but his pro career has seen him going in circles, somewhat, for the last few years, with a few disappointing performances along the way. He really could do with a big win to kickstart some momentum. That isn’t a problem Azeez has, having broken through with a series of impressive performances in the last three years- but at 34, he’s a late starter and may not have much time to rebuild and give it another run if he falls here.

It should match well stylistically too. Buatsi is a classy, accurate punch-picker who throws some lovely combinations in close. Azeez is a steady pressure fighter who increases the tempo as the fight goes on, and who likes to bring on some old-school tricks (look out for the cross-armed guard he likes to bring out on occasion). Neither could claim to have a flawless defence, so they’ll be relying on their attack to get them through. It should be fun.

The rest of the card is mostly a showcase of Boxxer’s top prospects. Super-lightweight Adam Azim has the most interesting fight, defending his European title against also-undefeated Enoch Poulsen. Caroline Dubois (sister of Daniel) fights Miranda Reyes– that’ll be marketed as a world title fight but it’s the IBO belt so it’s not really.

Ben Whittaker, a light-heavyweight who scored Silver at the Tokyo Olympics and has, since he turned pro, made an art-form out of pissing people off. His opponent, Khalid Graidia, is a journeyman with a losing record, so in no way a step up for him -expect more rage-baiting showboating. Still, all three fights should be entertaining, and give you a look at three fighters with bright futures in the sport.

The card will air on Sky Sports in the UK and Peacock in the US. It starts at 7pm UK time (2PM Eastern), with main event ringwalks expected around 10pm UK time (5pm Eastern) – though stay tuned for updates on that. There’ll be a one-fight prelim show available on Sky’s youtube channel and apps.

Update: after a couple of fight announcements- Fabio Wardley and Frazier Clarke will face off for Wardley’s British heavyweight title, and Chris Billam-Smith will defend his cruiserweight title in a rematch against Richard Riakporhe, who beat him in 2019- we’ll be live with the main event in a few minutes. Join me for the play-by-play below.

Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez: Main event play-by-play

Round 1: Dan Azeez’s corner is very loud. Azeez himself is a fighter who likes to come in low then work his way up once in close. Buatsi on the other hand more upright, trying to hold distance with a jab then follow up with right hands. In the second half of the round Buatsi does respond with occasional experiments in crouching low himself. Both have done good work so far, but a few sharp shots by Buatsi probably give him the round. 10-9 Buatsi.

Round 2: Azeez’s corner instructions are clear- work Buatsi’s body. Makes sense if he wants to test his stamina as the fight goes – especially since Azeez is typically a fighter who comes on strong as the fight goes on. Buatsi, to be fair, also working the body well. Meanwhile Azeez has some success with an overhand right as Buatsi lands an uppercut. Neither wants to give too much ground, this is being fought in center ring consistently. Round closes with a nice intercepting shot by Buatsi as Azeez lands a right, then some bodywork from Buatsi. Another close round, 10-9 Buatsi, 20-18

Round 3: Azeez opens jabbing to the body. He moves his head very well on approach. Buatsi trying to lure him in for counters now, holding his feet but leaning back. Azeez not overcomitting though. They exchange lovely bodyshots with a minute left in the round, then a combination from Azeez. Azeez having good success in the second half of the round as he ups the tempo. The round ends with a frenetic exchange. 10-9 Azeez, 29-28

Round 4: Azeez opens the round with strong bodywork. Buatsi counters upstairs. Jab snapping Azeez’s head back. Buatsi has been finding some joy with an uppercut and he’s going back to the well here. And a bodyshot under Buatsi’s right elbow. Bit more composed from him to start the round after it got frenetic at the end of the last. Really working that left downstairs. Azeez throwing his own but not to as much visible effect. Buatsi’s been snapping Azeez’s head back in the second half of the round, too. Good round for him. 10-9 Buatsi, 39-37

Round 5: Azeez’s corner really want him to go forward, and he isn’t always. Buatsi’s intercepting shots are bothering him. Both throwing uppercuts early in this round. Buatsi throws a nice combination but Azeez answers with a solid overhand right. A lovely left hook as the final minute approaches hurts Azeez a bit, but he recovers fairly quickly. Still, clear Buatsi round. Had Azeez on his heels a few times. 10-9 Buatsi, 49-46

Round 6: This fight was close early but Buatsi has started separating himself. Azeez needs to change something up. Buddy McGirt is imploring him to push forward, and trust that it’ll dissuade Buatsi. Buatsi landing that left hook as Azeez tries though. A quiter round this with Azeez a little hesitant and Buatsi taking a rest. Azeez really doesn’t want to stay in the pocket, and his corner hates it for him. Right hand rocks him back. 10-9 Buatsi, 59-55

Round 7: Buatsi throwing distinctly less punches at the start of the seventh, hard to say if he’s starting to tire or just saving energy as he feels comfortable- he doesn’t look ragged or anything. Azeez still throwing, but not pushing the pace he probably needs to break Buatsi down in the final rounds. Solid riht for Azeez snaps Buatsi’s head back. It’s fair to note that Buatsi is protecting his body well, which is in part what’s dissuading Azeez who lives to work there as part of his gameplan. Still, possibly can give that round to Azeez on activity. 10-9 Azeez, 68-65 Buatsi.

Round 8: Azeez definitely not committing to that push-forward gameplan that his coaches want. Very hesitant. Buatsi coasting, but he’s jabing his way around well and catching Buatsi with intercepting shots as he tries to come in. He can’t really get close at the moment, every approach is being met with bodyshots. Azeez back foot slips a bit but Buatsi can’t take advantage, they exchange to the bell. 10-9 Buatsi, 78-74

Round 9: Azeez finally finds some consistent pressure in this round, and the crowd answers with a roar. Buatsi manages to calm him down with a few shots in the middle of the round, but Azeez continues to press. This is what he needs, constant mauling and just tap-tapping Buatsi until the openings come for the real shots. Buatsi responding in kind towards the end of the round, very good round this. 10-9 Azeez, 87-84

Round 10: Buatsi trying to stay at jabbing range to start this round. Buatsi not quite as instant with the pressure this time. His own jab is landing a bit though. He just needs to maul, and he’s not finding the route in the same way so far. Does get on it as we tick to the final minute, takes a combination as he approaches but starts to get his work in as the round closes. Both land lefts bang on the bell. 10-9 Buatsi, 97-93

Round 11: More confident start this time from Azeez, before a jab backs him up. The story of this fight really has been that normally Buatsi is used to be able to catch his opponent’s work and counter it, but Buatsi’s work is too sharp and finds the gaps before he can. Better success with it in these later rounds though, and he lands some good shots as both slip on what has been a problematic surface in the center of the ring – that’s happened a few times now. Azeez breathing heavy but continuing to work. Azeez drops and it’s called a knockdown! It looked as he slipped as well, but there may well have been a punch contributing. He won’t be pleased, but he needed a KO anyway. And he slips again at the end, and the ref calls another KD- that seemed harsh, the second one, looked like he swung himself off. 10-7 Buatsi, 107-100.

Round 12: They hug as the round starts, then go toe-to-toe. Buatsi senses a KO, and Azeez needs one- but quite clearly doesn’t trust the canvas now. Nice right hand from Azeez as Buatsi pulls out. Buatsi with more good work, a left hook this time, then another left stumbles Azeez back. Azeez very unhappy with the surface, and it’s a shame that spoiled a good matchuo, but in truth Azeez was just a little outclassed. Buatsi looking for the finish in the final minute, landing unanswered shots to the head. Doesn’t quite get it done but Buatsi has proven himself the better, sharper fighter here. They hug again as it finishes and it looks like they’re friends again now. Good fight, Buatsi 117-111. I think I may have messed my scoring up here by the way, let me count back in a bit (edit: yeah, I forgot to add the knockdowns. Oops, my bad). But the official scores are 117-109, 117-109, 116-110, giving Buatsi the clear-cut victory and the commonwealth and British title belts that were on the line..

Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez: Full card results and highlights

Light heavyweight: Joshua Buatsi (17-0) vs. Dan Azeez (20-0) ; light heavyweight

• Buatsi (17-0) and Azeez (20-0) line up in our main event in a sort-of grudge match (they’re friends normally. They’re claiming to dislike each other now, but we’ll see when the final whistle goes). It’s one for local bragging rights, plus a shot at a world title in the near future.

Super-lightweight: Adam Azim KO-5 Enock Poulsen

• Azim (10-0) is perhaps Boxxer and Sky’s most hyped prospect, a counterpuncher with flash and swagger. This fight, defending the European title he won in November, is one he’d hope to win if he wants to step up to world level, but his opponent Poulsen is unbeaten himself (14-0) and will be hoping to make the most of a huge opportunity.
• Actually I should correct on that- as far as titles go, Poulsen has won this twice before, and only lost it due to injury. First in 2019, then after a three year layoff he won it again in 2022 in a fight where he dislocated his shoulder and just toughed on through. This is his third snap at this belt and he’ll really be hoping his body holds up, because he’ll feel he should have been boxing at world level long before now.
• Azim definitely winning early, potshotting Poulsen with his lead hand and occasionally landing solid single counter rights. A natural counterpuncher, he could stand to build a base of attacking combinations as a second string to his bow, but he’s on top here. Just too fast and sharp for Poulsen.
• An unfortunate stoppage as Poulsen’s shoulder pops out again and the fight is stopped. Hard to see how his career continues from here.
• This goes down as a KO because he took a knee and the 10-count, but in reality that was an injury retirement.
• Still, Azeez looked good until then. As mentioned, you could wish for him to be more proactive, but that’s from a pure entertainment perspective really- there’s no danger of him losing fights like this and it’s gonna take someone very sharp to outbox him from the outside. Whereas, if it gets in close, he has the counters ready. Promising fighter and he’ll be hoping to move to world level this year.

Light heavyweight: Ben Whittaker TKO-5 Khalid Graidia

• I don’t know why Whittaker (3-0) is fighting Graidia (10-13-4), but he is. He should at least entertain us by being as annoying as possible.
• After a relatively quiet first round, he dropped Graidia in the second, and followed up by doing pirouettes in between punches and dancing as he threw. This is who he is as a fighter. He won’t be to everyone’s taste, but he’s entertaining.
• I’ve legitimately never seen the like. Whittaker gets pulled up for patting the opponent on the top of his head, tries to land on Graidia as he tries to fistbump on the restart, then goes to town, dancing and patting him on the head while hollering at his corner. He gets docked a point for his trouble.
• In the fifth, he puts on the pressure and scores a TKO as Gradia sits himself on the bottom rope and his corner throw the towel.
• I mostly don’t have an issue with all the nonsense, although it is excessive, but hitting Graidia on the restart as he tried to touch gloves wasn’t cool at all. In any case, for all that this was a nonsense fight, it should be noted that Graidia fought solid opposition last year, going the 8 round distance with Azeez and 7 rounds with Zach Parker. Getting it done faster than those two was probably the point of this exercise.

lightweight: Caroline Dubois UD Miranda Reyes 100-90 x 3

• Dubois (8-0-0) is Boxxer’s top hope to make a splash with women’s boxing. Her opponent, Reyes, has a record of 7-1-1 and has fought at higher weights, so she may offer some threat- but she’s never been near the level Dubois should be. It should be a win for the British prospect, but it’s not risk-free.
• Dubois started with a patiently aggressive performance, pushing into Reyes’ space then slipping her punches to set up counters. She uses her lead hand- she’s right-handed but fights southpaw- particularly well.
• She cranked up the pressure in the second half of the fight, being more directly aggressive and unloading barrages of bodyshots. She didn’t score the knockout, but she looked very good here, winding up with a whitewash score of 100-90 on all three cards.

Heavyweight: Jamie Tshikeva def Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko 58-55 (ref’s score)

• Tshikeva (5-1) (known as TKV) is a sort-of prospect (at 30, not really looking at world level, but a latecomer trying to build a run) who unexpectedly lost against Igor Adiel Macedo via knockout last year, after a punch basically exploded his eyebrow.
• Dovbyschchenko with his 10-14-1 record is clearly intended as a get-well opponent, but he has a shock victory against a prospect as recently as last year, when he stopped Matty Harris in June, so there may be some threat here.
• Not a great fight, but not really boring either, as both threw their fair share of punches. Just a bit samey throughout. TKV lost a point for persistent low blows but otherwise controlled well enough with his jab.

Bantamweight- Francesca Hennessy def Laura Belen Valdebenito 60-53 (ref’s score)

• In the sole prelim matchup, Francesca Hennessy (2-0) squared off against Laura Belen Valdebenito (5-5-1).
• The 19-year-old Hennessy is the daughter of long-time British promoter Mick Hennessy. She’s being trained by former men’s British welterweight champion Bradley Skeete, and there are high hopes for her.
• This was a fight she was expected to win, and she did so comfortably, winning every round including one 10-8 on the ref’s scorecard.

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