Buatsi vs Stepien Fight Date, UK Time, TV Channel, Tickets, Ring Walks
Buatsi vs Stepien Tops Birmingham Card As JB Debuts For BOXXER
WBA #1, Croydon’s Joshua Buatsi (16-0, 13 KOs) makes his BOXXER debut this Saturday, May 6 at Birmingham’s 15,000-capacity Resorts World Arena live on Sky Sports.
Buatsi will face Poland’s unbeaten, world-ranked contender Pawel Stepien (18-0-1, 12 KOs) over twelve rounds at Light Heavyweight. Stepien is ranked in 3 governing bodies: #4 with the IBF, #13 with the WBA and #14 with the WBO.
The Pole was scheduled to face WBC mandatory challenger Callum Smith before Smith pulled out with ten days to go citing an injury.
Stepien has decision wins over Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and Marek Matyja. Maderna upset prospect Karol Itauma on the Beterbiev-Yarde undercard whilst Matyja gave Craig Richards a competitive fight early, when they met in Oct 2021, before being stopped in the sixth round.
Buatsi has had all 16 of his fights under Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing but recently left the promoter to join Ben Shalom’s BOXXER.
The highly-rated contender beat domestic rival Craig Richards in the battle of south London in his last contest ten months ago.
Buatsi explained that he felt he wasn’t getting the exposure he deserved on DAZN and clarified on TalkSport that although he doesn’t know the viewing numbers for his two fights on DAZN, with the other 14 being on Sky, he doesn’t believe they are better than Sky in the UK alone.
Hearn claims that the 30-year-old left because he did not want to step up to world level. The unbeaten light heavyweight turned down two world title shots against WBA champion Dmitry Bivol with the latest offer being worth £1.25m.
Regardless, the next chapter in Buatsi’s journey has begun and a statement against Stepien, who he is expected to comfortably beat, will be vital in building back the momentum of the 2016 Olympian’s career.
Joshua Buatsi vs Pawel Stepien UK Time, Tickets, And Main Event Ring Walks
An 8-fight card which features 2020 Olympic silver medalist Ben Whittaker and more is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm BST (12:00 pm ET, 9:00 am PT) on the Sky Sports Boxing YouTube channel with the main card a little while later at 7 pm BST (2 pm ET, 11 am PT) on Sky Sports Action and free on Sky Showcase in the UK.
Main Event Ring Walks will occur at approximately 10:15 pm BST (5:15 pm ET, 2:15 pm PT). Stay tuned to NoSmokeSport.com for more details about the undercard, running order, and fight week updates as they happen. Tickets for the event, starting at £28, are still available.
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Joshua Buatsi vs Pawel Stepien – 12 Rounds Light Heavyweight – Sat, May 6– Genting Arena, Birmingham – Live On Sky Sports
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