When is Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker?

Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker is on Saturday, November 1. The broadcast will begin at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (7:30 p.m. GMT). 

Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker will stream on DAZN.

Where is Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker?

The fight is taking place at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.

Who is Joshua Buatsi?

Joshua Buatsi, 19-1 (13 KOs), is a light heavyweight contender who is returning from his first professional defeat, a setback given how heavily featured he was in recent years.

The 32-year-old Buatsi was born in Ghana and grew up in London, England. He represented Team GB in the 2016 Olympics, taking home a bronze medal after losing in the semifinals to eventual silver medalist Adilbek Niyazymbetov. Buatsi signed with promoter Matchroom Boxing and had Anthony Joshua managing him. He began to develop on shows in the U.K., including a pair of Joshua’s undercards, as well as Joshua’s defeat to Andy Ruiz in New York City.

Buatsi gave Marko Calic his first defeat (TKO7) in 2020 and did the same to Daniel Blenda Dos Santos (TKO4) in 2021. He outpointed the 17-2-1 Craig Richards in 2022 for his final bout with Matchroom and Joshua. 

Under his new deal with promoter Boxxer, Buatsi won a unanimous decision against the undefeated Pawel Stepien in 2023, outpointed the 20-0 Dan Azeez in February 2024, and won the WBO’s interim light heavyweight belt in July 2024 with a split decision over Willy Hutchinson – on the undercard of Joshua’s loss to Daniel Dubois.

That landed Buatsi on another big show this past February, when he faced former super middleweight champ Callum Smith on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II. It was a prime spot but also a gamble, given that Buatsi’s interim belt put him in line for a shot at the winner, who at the time was the undisputed champion.

The gamble didn’t pay off. Buatsi lost to Smith.

It was a hard-fought battle, and Buatsi dug deep, but he also took plenty of punishment en route to dropping a unanimous decision. Buatsi has had about eight months to recover and work on improving himself. He’s also now changed promoters as a number of fighters left Boxxer; Buatsi is now signed with Queensberry Promotions.

There shouldn’t be any rush to put Buatsi in with Bivol (still the true king and lineal champ with three of the four major titles) or Beterbiev or even WBC beltholder David Benavidez just yet. Buatsi, who is ranked fifth by the WBC and sixth by the WBO, can test himself against Parker and then move on to his fellow ranked contenders, ensuring that he’s truly ready before facing the best light heavyweights in the world.

Who is Zach Parker?

Zach Parker, 26-1 (18 KOs), is a 31-year-old from Woodville, England. He won his first 22 fights before facing John Ryder for the interim WBO super middleweight belt in November 2022. Parker hurt his right hand in the fourth round and decided not to continue on after the round concluded. He did not regret that decision.

“I felt it and I knew I couldn’t keep John off with it,” Parker told Boxing News a few days later. He soon added what he learned after getting the injury checked out: “After an initial consultation with a surgeon, I was told that if I fought on, I could have done long-term damage to my career. I might not have been able to box again, so I had to stop. I’ve read and seen horror stories about boxers who have had career-ending injuries.”

Parker has won four bouts since while settling in as a light heavyweight. In March 2024, he outpointed the 27-1-1 Tyron Zeuge. That was followed by a fourth-round TKO of the 26-3 Jack Arnfield in July 2024. And in Parker’s last outing, he won a unanimous decision in February against the 21-1-2 Mickael Diallo.

Parker is rated third at 175lbs by the WBO, 11th by the WBC, and 13th by the IBF and WBA.

What other fights are on the undercard of Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker?

More light heavyweights will clash on the undercard: Bradley Rea vs. Lyndon Arthur and Troy Jones vs. Liam Cameron.

Rea, 21-1 (10 KOs), is coming off a close unanimous decision win in June over the twice-beaten Shakan Pitters. Arthur is 24-3 (16 KOs), two of those defeats coming in his trilogy with Anthony Yarde, including a unanimous decision loss in their April rubber match. Arthur is 1-2 in his last three: the other loss came via shutout to Dmitry Bivol in late 2023, while the win was a split decision over Cameron in mid-2024.

Jones, 13-1 (6 KOs), is back for the second time since losing a unanimous decision to Ezra Taylor in May. Jones was originally scheduled to face Daniel Lapin, 12-0 (4 KOs), who pulled out in mid-September with an injury. Instead, Jones is facing Cameron, 23-7-1 (10 KOs), who is returning from his TKO2 loss to Ben Whittaker in their April rematch.

The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.