By Jake Tiernan: Eddie Hearn revealed today that unbeaten light heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi has rejected an offer of well over £1million to fight WBA 175-lb champion Dmitry Bivol.
Not surprisingly, Hearn doesn’t understand why #1 WBA Buatsi (16-0, 13 KOs) would turn down a sizable offer to challenge Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) for his title.
Hearn revealed that Buatsi wants a fight against 33-year-old Dan Azeez (18-0, 12 KOs), who is fighting this Saturday night against Thomas Faure in Paris, France.
It’s unknown whether the 29-year-old Buatsi feels he’s not ready for a fight against Bivol or if he believes that the contest is worth more than the £1million+ offer that Hearn says he’s given him.
If Buatsi hopes that Bivol will lose to Canelo Alvarez and he’ll have a shot at fighting the Mexican star afterward, he could be kidding himself because that won’t happen. Canelo is very selective in who he fights and won’t take a risky fight against a fighter with a small base like Buatsi.
Given the huge problems Buatsi had in his last fight against Craig Richards, his chances of beating Bivol are pretty low. Likewise, IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) would be all wrong for Buatsi due to his punching power and boxing skills.
“Yeah, we have. He [Joshua Buatsi] got made an offer, which we did match, and we’ll see what we do moving forward,” said Eddie Hearn to ESBR Boxing about a million pounds offer made to Joshua Buatsi for a fight against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
“We’ve offered him well over £1million to fight Dmitry Bivol, and he turned it down, and that’s disappointing. We want him to fight Callum Smith or Bivol, and he wants to fight Dan Azeez. So we’ll have to see.
“Joshua is a great fighter, and we’ll see what the future holds. I don’t know, that’s one for him, but he’s a very good fighter. I believe he can win world titles,” said Hearn when asked why Buatsi would turn down a big payday to fight Dmitry Bivol for his WBA 175-lb strap.
Hearn must be disappointed that Buatsi’s career has failed to progress since signing him after he competed in the 2016 Olympics. Buatsi should be a much bigger name than he is now, but he hasn’t often fought enough, and his opposition has been largely lackluster.
