On Saturday, Joshua Buatsi fights for the first time since his first defeat – in February by Callum Smith.
Defeat is something almost all fighters – Rocky Marciano, Floyd Mayweather and Andre Ward are the very rare exceptions – endure and have to deal with.
Buatsi lost to an excellent fighter, in what was also a very good fight. He may even believe that he won. Even if he doesn’t, the nature of their fight combined with Smith’s abilities, means that the damage to his psyche shouldn’t be as great as it might have been to others losing for the first time.
The fact that he’s been matched with Zach Parker in Manchester, England appears a reflection of his confidence remaining intact. Parker’s not on Smith’s level, but he remains a good fighter.
I’ve previously fought on the same promotion as Buatsi; I’ve also interviewed him, commentated on his fights, and spoken to him away from the cameras. I like both his abilities and who he is as a person – he’s a tough individual who wants to fight the best in the world, and that doesn’t apply to that many of his contemporaries in 2025.
I’d favoured him to beat Smith. Smith was brilliant that night and turned back the clock, but I was also impressed with Buatsi’s toughness and willingness to fight back and remain in a tough, gruelling fight after being hurt. If he showed a weakness that night it’s that he didn’t find a way to win a close contest, but he can learn from that – and if he does learn his potential can still be realised.
Buatsi showed signs of that potential when, prior to Smith, beating Willy Hutchinson, Craig Richards and Dan Azeez. He’s physically very strong, has solid fundamentals, a fine chin, and grit. He’s an experienced 12-round fighter who’s good at everything without doing any one thing great.
By the same token, then, he’s a fighter who lacks one-punch power and isn’t particularly fast. I also think he needs to show more intelligence in his decision making, which undermined him against Smith – he was too willing to trade with Smith and wasn’t cute enough in those moments.
Parker can transform his career with victory, but he doesn’t have anything like Buatsi’s abilities or record. He’s unproven at this level at 175lbs.
I fully expect Buatsi to produce a workmanlike performance, largely because of that defeat. He has something to prove, so he may push the action and trade more than he ought to, but even if he risks exchanges he doesn’t need to, he has the necessary physical abilities to win a wide decision and return to contention at world level at 175lbs.
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We still can’t be sure how much the Buatsi fight took out of Smith but the prospect of him fighting David Morrell is very appealing – and a fight that, at this early stage, I consider Morrell the favourite for.
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I’m going to be ringside at Lenier Pero-Jordan Thompson in Orlando, hours after Buatsi-Parker. Thompson, who was stopped by Jai Opetaia at cruiserweight in his most recent fight, is therefore also returning from defeat, and he will be confronting a good, and big, Cuban heavyweight. There’s a lot of excitement about Pero in south Florida. Thompson possesses enough ability to test whether or not Pero is the fighter it is hoped he is.
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Finally, while I may agree that Joseph Parker was stopped slightly early in his defeat by Fabio Wardley, I’ve no problem whatsoever with the outcome. Parker’s reaction in the ring, and Andy Lee’s at the post-fight press conference, were quite telling. They know that he was under pressure and can have few complaints. I also believe he was hurt enough in the second round that he fought hurt from then until the 11th.
