JOSHUA BUATSI and Dan Azeez have given their thoughts on being called out by fellow British contender Anthony Yarde.
Speaking last week on Sky Sports Boxing, the two-time world title challenger made it known he wants to face the winner of the October 21 clash between Buatsi and Azeez.
For far too long both Buatsi and Yarde have been continually linked to a fight against one another but, as per usual, only headlines and soundbites have kept their rivalry alive.
Boxing News put the subject of facing Yarde to both Buatsi and Azeez after speaking to both earlier this week.
“Irrelevant, man. I’m going to sleep,” Buatsi replied. “I gotta deal with Dan first. We can talk about Yarde another time. Look [who] he fought on the weekend,” he added.
A dismissive Buatsi referred to Yarde’s victory against Ricky Summers’ replacement Jorge Silva who was dismissed inside two rounds on September 23 at Wembley Arena. Yarde’s 24th win came eight months after his second career loss at the hands of light-heavyweight ruler Artur Beterbiev in an early contender for Fight of the Year.
BN asked Buatsi what he had made of Yarde’s career outside of his two defeats to Beterbiev and prior to that in 2019 to Sergey Kovalev.
“I haven’t made anything of his journey. Right now, it’s Azeez. Yarde and I yeah, we can fight later but for now it’s Azeez. Like I said, look who he fought last and come talking rubbish.”
Azeez, however, seemed more welcoming of the call-out from his fellow Londoner.
“What I made of it is it’s great. All the top light-heavies in the country want to mix it up, which is fantastic. I’ve always said by the time my career ends I want to have fought all my peers. I’d like to imagine he’s one of my peers but as of now I’ve got JB to think of. That’s no easy feat to overcome. I don’t care about anyone after. It’s just Buatsi that is on my mind and what I’m focused on.”
Azeez injected more enthusiasm into another answer of his when he discussed the excitement surrounding his upcoming fight with Buatsi. Azeez has built himself on being the blue-collar addition between the Olympian Buatsi and the flashy Yarde and has often called on the best in the division to get together and fight each other.
“Everyone should be excited we’ve got dancing partners,” he said. “Imagine being in a weight division where there’s no exciting fighters to fight, there’s no-one on your level, it’d be crap. There’s about eight of us. How many fights can we see? Everyone’s different. Just because one person beats the other that doesn’t mean that person is going to lose to another person. It’s styles make fights.”
