What’s Next for Joshua Buatsi?

British light-heavyweight boxer Joshua Buatsi retained his WBA International title this weekend. With this win under wraps, the question that emerges in everyone’s minds is: What is the next step for Buatsi?

Joshua Buatsi (13-0, 11 KOs) is an Olympic medalist, having won the bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics. After this, he went pro in 2017 and has remained unbeaten in his professional career till now.

His last fight against Marko Calic (11-1, 6 KOs) was the first real taste of adversity in his career. Following solid right hands from Calic early in the fight, Buatsi was left with a swollen eye. The fight went on with both fighters giving it their all to stay in there and get the victory.

Buatsi then began to dig Calic with hard body shots from the fourth which made the latter hold Buatsi in a clinch. Calic came back in the sixth with the two standing toe-to-toe and trading hard blows.

The contest, however, did not last long as Buatsi hit Calic with a hard right hand that wobbled the Croatian. After Calic beat the count, Buatsi then followed by hitting his rival with a barrage of punches that forced the latter’s corner to throw in the towel. The bout was over, and Calic was suspected to have a broken jaw at the end of the fight.

Where does Joshua Buatsi go from here?

Now, with Buatsi making a successful return to the ring after more than a year, his next bout will definitely be against a more well-known opponent.

Promoter Eddie Hearn has said that a bout against Callum Johnson or Anthony Yarde will be targeted for the next year. Yarde is coming off a stoppage victory of his own against British Dec Spelman.

The two potential matchups will decide the rankings in the race for title contention. After a long halt to the division because of the Coronavirus pandemic, the contenders have set the ball rolling once again with these recent bouts. Putting them against each other will give a clear picture of how prepared the fighters are for a title shot.

Also Read: Emotional Joshua Buatsi and Marko Calic Spend a Moment Together After Their Fight