Buatsi within ‘touching distance’ of title fight, but Smith warns the fire still burns
Joshua Buatsi knows he is close to a shot at the light heavyweight titles, but the Londoner is not taking his eyes off Callum Smith.
Buatsi, a 2016 Olympian, faces Liverpool veteran Smith in Saudi Arabia on February 22 but would be excused for having an eye on the main event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, who meet in a rematch for the full set of 175lbs belts.
Buatsi has the WBO interim belt and wants to parlay victory over Smith into a fight with the winner of the bill-topper.
“I’m touching distance away,” he said at the London press conference to unveil the huge show. “I was asked to bring my interim belt, but I said ‘why would I do that when the real one is behind me?’ I’ve got to get Smith out of the way, that’s all I’m fixated on.”
Smith has faced questions before about his hunger, having won the super middleweight World Boxing Super Series in 2018 and lost heavily to Canelo Alvarez in 2020. Last year, Beterbiev brutally stopped him in seven rounds.
“The fire’s still there… I always set myself goals and I’ve been lucky through my career to achieve them all but I’ve set a goal of becoming a two-weight world champion and it’s still not done. That’s why I’m here. A win over Josh puts me one step closer to being there,” Smith said.
“Winning that belt puts me one step closer to where I want to be… I believe I’m good enough to get the job done,” he added. “I’ve got to make sure the best version of me shows up and I believe the best version of me beats Joshua Buatsi.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
