Joshua Buatsi Refusing To Play Willy Hutchinson’s Mind Games Ahead Of September Fight

August 15, 2024
6 months
Willy Hutchinson will challenge Joshua Buatsi for his WBO interim title

Joshua Buatsi insists he’s focused only on business and will not let Willy Hutchinson’s antics affect him ahead of their light-heavyweight bout on September 21.

Buatsi (18-0-0 13 KO) and Hutchinson (18-1-0 13 KO) will fight for the WBO’s 175lbs interim title on the undercard of the heavyweight world title fight between IBF champion Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

It represents yet another title eliminator for Buatsi, who is already the WBA’s mandatory challenger having defeated friend and rival Dan Azeez in a 12-round thriller in February. Another victory will put him in line to face the winner of October’s undisputed bout between unified champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA title holder Dimitry Bivol.

However, the build-up to his bout against Hutchinson is already far different from the cordial nature of his rivalry with Azeez. Buatsi and his Scottish rival got involved in a scuffle during filming for DAZN, while Hutchinson is far more animated and extroverted compared to the more reserved Buatsi.

Whether ‘The Hutch Train’ is simply putting on a show for the cameras and to gain a psychological edge, Buatsi admits he’s not sure but all will be revealed on fight night.

“The best thing is that in the ring the truth always comes out. Whether it’s real, whether it’s fake. Whether you’re about it or whether you aren’t. If you are who you say you are, it comes out in the ring,” Buatsi told BoxingScene.

Buatsi had been expecting to fight Anthony Yarde but his fellow Londoner pulled out of the negotiations for unknown reasons. Yarde and Hutchinson’s promoter, Frank Warren, suggested the Scot as an alternative not long after his impressive victory over Craig ‘Spider’ Richards in Saudi Arabia in June.

“Against ‘Spider’, [Hutchinson’s mind games] worked and he came out on top. We have to give him credit for that and I won’t take that away,” Buatsi said. “You’re asking me if it’s real or not but I don’t even know. I haven’t looked in and thought, ‘Is he as confident as he says?’ I think fight night will give us the opportunity to find out.”

Buatsi’s out-of-character reaction – grabbing Hutchinson by the neck – during their brawl could suggest the Scottish fighter is successfully getting under his skin. But the 31-year-old insists that’s not the case and that the fight will be decided by much more than pre-fight antics.

“I think it’s a battle of everything,” Buatsi said. “There’s 12 rounds to do it. Look, there’s a lot of things he’s said and a certain way he’s behaved that I may or may not agree with. Some things he says are quite funny. Other things he says, I’m like, ‘You’re talking too much. You’re doing too much.’ I had to pull him up on it. I’m looking forward to September and seeing what happens.

“I think you can look and find something that you want to be there. I might look and think that I want this guy to be scared or you might do things to make him scared. Then, when you see whatever it is that you think you’re looking for, you might think, ‘Yeah, he’s scared.’ That might be your mind tricking you yourself but whatever you have to do to make it work for you, make it happen.

“I think the conditions are primed for a good fight. Whether it’s going to bring the best out in me, I don’t know,” Buatsi added. “It’s going to bring a version of me to win. That’s what I’m looking forward to. There’s been a bit of talking, a bit of wrestling, a bit of everything. All that’s left to do now is to fight. Is the confidence he’s portraying true? We’re going to find out. In terms of the best version of me? People haven’t seen that yet.”

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