Joshua Buatsi will make his Queensberry Promotions debut against Zach Parker on November 1 at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena.
The light heavyweight contender is having his first fight since the lone loss of his career, when he weas defeated in a Fight of the Year contender by Callum Smith in February.
Against Derby’s Parker, Buatsi leads the way as part of a triple-header of light heavyweight bouts, which sees another recent Queensberry signing, Brad Rea, the European champion, take on perennial contender Lyndon Arthur, and Ukraine’s Daniel Lapin, who recently defeated Lewis Edmondson on the Oleksandr Usyk-Daniel Dubois bill, against Birmingham’s Troy Jones.
Buatsi, 32, is a former 2016 Rio Olympian who started his career with Matchroom, moved to Boxxer, and now is boxing for Frank Warren at Queensberry. The Londoner is 19-1 (13 KOs), while Parker is 26-1 (18 KOs), with the 31-year-old’s lone blemish coming when he was injured in a fight against experienced southpaw John Ryder.
Parker has won four since.
Rea-Arthur is an intriguing match-up, Arthur is returning having fought hard against Anthony Yarde in their trilogy fight. The Manchester man lost a decision, and therefore lost the trilogy 2-1. Previously, Arthur had gone the distance with Dmitry Bivol in a losing effort for the WBA title. He and Rea meet in an all-Manchester bout, and Rea is 21-1 (10 KOs), having defeated Shakan Pitters for the European belt in his last fight.
Arthur is a battle-tested 24-3 (16 KOs), while Rea is 21-1 (10 KOs). The champion has won his last seven since a defeat on points to Tyler Denny at middleweight.
Lapin improved to 12-0 (4 KOs) after his narrow win over Edmondson at Wembley Stadium, while the 12-1 (6 KOs) Troy Jones lost a decision to contender Ezra Taylor when they met in May.
“This will be a tremendous card and an amazing showcase for the light heavyweight division,” said promoter Frank Warren. “Our 175lbs contingent is so strong now that it made perfect sense to put a number of them on a major platform at the biggest and best Arena in Europe.
“Joshua Buatsi is probably only a fight or two away from challenging for a world title so it is important that he is tested, and he will be against Zach Parker, who is looking to make it big himself at light heavyweight and will see this as his opportunity to plant himself high in the rankings.
“The Manchester public are in for a treat with the Brad Rea vs Lyndon Arthur match-up, with them both being local boys wanting to put on a show. Brad is now with us here at Queensberry and going up against a former world title challenger gives him the opportunity to make a perfect statement of intent.
“I was very impressed with what I saw from Troy Jones last time out when he took on Ezra Taylor, so I am delighted to give him another showcase against the undefeated Daniel Lapin, who holds two international titles and is closing in on world title contention.”
