Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez Set For August 19 In Brighton

Joshua Buatsi Lands Another Significant Domestic Clash But It’s Not The Anthony Yarde ‘Mega Fght’

WBA #1 Joshua Buatsi (17-0, 13 KOs) is set to face the European, Commonwealth, and British Light Heavyweight champion, Dan Azeez (19-0, 13 KOs) in an all-London clash on Saturday, Aug 19 at Brighton’s 5,000-capacity The Brighton Centre live on Sky Sports.

According to Boxing World Weekly, a representative from BOXXER, who promotes both fighters, informed the IBF at their convention that the pair would meet on Aug 5 with the IBF #2 status potentially on the line. The #1 and mandatory challenger to Artur Beterbiev is Michael Eifert, who decisioned Jean Pascal for the mandatory position earlier this year.

NoSmokeSport.com has now learnt that the plan for the fight is to move it to two weeks later and to Brighton as securing a suitable London venue has become increasingly difficult.

Azeez has gained significant credit from the boxing community for taking the traditional approach with titles, winning Southern Area, English, British, Commonwealth, and European championships instead of focusing on trinket belts.

Although he hasn’t competed beyond the domestic level yet, the 33-year-old has strung together a strong run of wins and had significant activity, something lacking from Buatsi’s career. This will be a major step up in competition for the WBA #2 with him likely starting as an underdog.

Buatsi’s last notable domestic clash came against Craig Richards in the battle of South London last May where the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist narrowly beat Richards in an exciting 12-round affair

The 30-year-old had his first 16 fights under Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing but recently left the promoter to join Ben Shalom’s BOXXER. His only fight with BOXXER was an underwhelming points win over Poland’s Pawel Stepien in May.

Buatsi turned down two world title shots against WBA champion Dmitry Bivol with the second offer being worth £1.25m. The boxer nicknamed ‘Just Business’ stated that although he wasn’t aware of the viewing numbers for his fights on DAZN, he wasn’t satisfied with the exposure he was receiving, and taking the Bivol fight would’ve resulted in a multi-fight extension with Matchroom/DAZN.

Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez – 12 Rounds Light Heavyweight – Aug 19 – The Brighton Centre, Brighton, England – Live On Sky Sports

By NoSmokeSport

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