By Charles Brun: Joshua Buatsi (16-0, 12 KOs) weighed in at 174 lbs, and Pawel Stepien (18-0-1, 12 KOs) weighed 175 pounds during Friday’s weigh-in for Saturday’s twelve-round headliner fight on Sky Sports at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
Saturday night’s Buatsi vs. Stepien event will be shown live on Sky Sports Showcase and Sky Sports Action from 7:00 pm.
Interestingly, the 2016 Olympian Buatsi wants to challenge IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev next, provided he beats Stepien.
Buatsi is already ranked #1 WBA and was offered “life-changing” money to fight champion Dmitry Bivol, but his trainer Virgil Hunter turned it down, according to his former promoter Eddie Hearn.
The fight would have taken place in the Middle East, which is why Buatsi would have gotten so much dough.
Hearn added that if Buatsi were to fight Bivol now, he’d only get half of what he would have received from the fight. He feels that Buatsi lacks self-confidence.
Complete weights for Saturday
Joshua Buatsi 174 vs. Pawel Stepien 175
Lauren Price 146.3 vs. Kirstie Bavington 146
Ben Whittaker 174.3 vs. Jordan Grant 175
Macaulay McGowan 159 vs. Tyler Denny 159.3
Sean McComb 139.3 vs. Kaisee Benjamin 140
Shakan Pitters 179 vs. Joel McIntyre 178.3
Cori Gibbs 137 vs. Jimmy First 136.3
“You can never override Beterbiev. That’s a long-reigning champion for a reason. Not by chance, not by anything,” said Buatsi.
“I think there are things he does well as a champion, but I also bet on myself and say there are things that I do well as a fighter. But let me get in the ring [tomorrow night] and show something.”
“Don’t forget that he would have had another fight. When we did the Craig Richards fight, I said I wanted him to fight Bivol next, and [trainer] Virgil Hunter said, ‘No, he’s not ready for Bivol,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Joshua Buatsi.
“The problem is Pawel Stepien doesn’t get you ready for Dmitry Bivol either. Probably Joshua’s biggest weakness is a lack of self-belief. He’s a really good fighter, Joshua Buatsi, but don’t forget that we made him a huge offer [to fight Bivol].
“We were only able to make that offer because it was in the Middle East. If he ever fights Dmitry Bivol, he will receive half of what we offered him, probably around that number. We could only offer him what we offered him because it was in the Middle East.
“When he didn’t take that, that was the start of us falling apart because I really didn’t know what more [I could offer]. You build a fighter up to that position, and you get a life-changing offer. He can talk about, ‘You wanted to extend the deal.’ Only like two fights because one was a rematch anyway.
“Of course, we spend all this money building you and give you a massive payday for a world title; we’re going to want to be involved in your success when you win. So that’s standard. Joshua is a great fighter. I honestly, wish him all the best,” said Hearn about Buatsi.
