Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker | DAZN - 1 November 2025

[THEBUTCH]

Parker is talented IMO. Also reminds me of a poor-man's Froch.

If Buatsi shows the same form against Parker as he did in his classic encounter with Callum Smith, Joshua should win by stoppage.

It will be interesting to see if Buatsi is still teak tough because he took some severe punishment during the loss to Smith.

[Cbarnes19]

Buatsi will absolutely breeze past him there’s levels to the game and Parker is a few below him, don’t rate him whatsoever think he gets his ears boxed off then gets stopped.

[Ruthless-RKO]

JOSHUA BUATSI: KNOWING WHAT DEFEAT FEELS LIKE WILL PUSH ME ON

Joshua Buatsi has received a boost from an unlikely source ahead of his upcoming fight with Zach Parker.

The light heavyweight contenders will meet in a 10-round fight at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on November 1. DAZN will broadcast the action.

In February, Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs) took on former super middleweight world champion, Callum Smith.

With his back to the wall, Smith rolled back the years. After 12 of the most exciting rounds of 2025, Buatsi lost a unanimous decision and his WBO interim 175lb title.

He also lost his undefeated record.

A first defeat can cause a fighter to inwardly question everything from their preparation and support team to their ability and desire.

Buatsi, 32, is a strong minded individual but a bit of reassurance is always nice, no matter where it comes from.

“What's interesting is that I met a guy on a train and he said 'Callum just won Josh' and I said, 'Yeah, I think he won,'" Buatsi told Queensberry.

“He said, “Because he [Smith] had lost before and he knew it was his last shot, that gave him the extra push.”

“So, now knowing what defeat tastes like, I know that if I'm in a close fight, I'm hoping it'll push me forward but there's a lot of work to be done which is what I'm away at the moment doing.”

Beating the WBO’s No. 4 ranked light heavyweight, Parker, wont be easy. The 31-year-old from Derby also knows what it feels like to lose and will be desperate to secure the biggest win of his career.

At his best, Parker (26-1, 18 KOs) is a talented operator who has struggled to build any real momentum since a broken hand curtailed his WBO interim super middleweight title fight with John Ryder back in 2022.

He made the move to 175lbs earlier this year and - just a couple of weeks before Buatsi boxed Smith - he outpointed late substitute, Mickael Diallo, over 10-rounds.

Despite the loss to Smith, Buatsi’s reputation, amateur pedigree and undoubted quality ensure that he enters the fight with Parker as a sizeable favourite and observers will expect him to not only win but to do so in a fashion that puts him directly back into the picture for a world title shot.

None of that matters to Buatsi who is solely focused on getting his career back on track.

‘No. I don't feel stuff like that,” he said.

“I always feel my point is to win. If I had beaten Smith, they can talk about all the points they want, but he won the fight, so you move on.

“The point is always to win first and foremost. All the other stuff comes with it, but the point is to win.”

[jameswilson]

Parker is talented IMO. Also reminds me of a poor-man's Froch.

If Buatsi shows the same form against Parker as he did in his classic encounter with Callum Smith, Joshua should win by stoppage.

It will be interesting to see if Buatsi is still teak tough because he took some severe punishment during the loss to Smith.

He's clearly got a hell of a chin but also the body shots he took vs Smith had me on the floor just watching so he can also take it to the body and there's been guys down the years who have good chins but the moment they get tapped to the body they are done for. As someone said further up there's levels to this game and Buatsi, I think, will deal with Parker handily.

[THEBUTCH]

Parker's a tricky customer, but I get the whole levels argument for Buatsi winning at a canter.

Zach must know that he needs to produce the goods after flipping against John Ryder in his first big opportunity.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

ZACH PARKER GLAD TO BE BACK IN RELEVANT FIGHT VS. BIG NAME

Almost every young boxer finds it easy to move tickets for their professional debut.

Family, friends, and friends of friends buy into the idea of watching somebody they know fight and they snap up the allocation.

The novelty quickly wears off and, for all but the lucky few, persuading those same people to part with their money becomes a harder and harder task.

Interest picks back up if and when they reach title level or make it onto television screens but can quickly dwindle again if fans feel like they have plateaued or are treading water.

Keeping those fans invested doesn’t get any easier. It is a challenge for fighters at every level of the sport.

World-ranked Zach Parker (26-1, 18 KOs) has been patiently searching for the type of opponent that will not only test him mentally and physically but also reignite public interest in him.

After a quiet couple of years, the highly rated light heavyweight has finally snared a big name. On November 1, the 31-year-old from Derby will fight former WBO interim 175 pound champion, Joshua Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs) at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena and he can’t wait to remind people what he is capable of.

“Well, it's hard to get out of bed, really,” Parker told The Ring about the frustrations of waiting for a big fight.

“You keep telling all your fans, 'The next one is going to be a big fight. This one is a big fight.'

“My last fight was meant to be against Willy Hutchinson. He pulled out three or four days before the fight, it didn’t really help.

“You can't really see Buatsi pulling out. He's always been a professional in the past with his fights so I'm buzzing. The whole of Derby is buzzing. Everyone’s getting behind me and I'm ready to go up to Manchester and take it with both hands.”

Parker - who is ranked at No. 3 by the WBO - has been on the verge of breaking through at the highest level once before.

He spent years as a respected but avoided super middleweight, collecting titles and working his way through the world rankings. Eventually, Queensberry took a chance on him and he grasped his opportunity with both hands. Three consecutive knockout wins increased his popularity and secured him a WBO interim title fight with the well known John Ryder in November 2022.

A badly broken hand brought a swift end to the fight and he had to sit at home and and watch Ryder challenge Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed 168 pound title.

Since then, Parker has been looking for a way back.

He outpointed former WBA belt holder, Tyron Zeuge, and - when Hutchinson withdrew from their fight - he remained focused and beat the tough, underrated Frenchman, Mickael Diallo, in his first real test at 175lbs.

In Buatsi, he has finally found an opponent with the credentials and star power to take him to a new level. He knows that a win over the WBO’s No. 6 ranked contender will put him squarely in the mix for a world title shot.

“Sometimes there's a lot of fights that get talked about and then they somehow don't come off. The promoters change their minds on certain fights and, us boxers, we're just the ones waiting to get a shot,” he said.

“I've been in the game for a long time. As soon as I see my face on a poster, that’s when I know the fight's on so, yeah, I'm raring for it now.

“I've been waiting for a shot like this. Obviously, Buatsi’s a big name. He’s been to Olympics and whatnot and came from the GB squad. That's exactly how I'm going into this fight, just knowing what's on for the next bit.”

[Ezzard]

Buatsi will be a big favourite and rightly so. But Parker comes with ambition and belief. This is his moment and I have no issue with him retiring with a broken hand.

[Ruthless-RKO]

LIAM CAMERON TO REPLACE INJURED DANIEL LAPIN FOR TROY JONES CLASH

LONDON, England - It is Daniel Lapin out and Liam Cameron in for Troy Jones at Co-op Live Arena on November 1.

Jones and Lapin had been scheduled to meet in an intriguing light-heavyweight contest on the undercard of the event headlined by Joshua Buatsi’s clash with Zach Parker.

Lapin, the younger brother of Oleksandr Usyk’s team manager Sergey, remained unbeaten and was rewarded with a rankings boost across three sanctioning bodies after his majority decision victory over Lewis Edmondson (11-1, 3 KOs) at Wembley Stadium on July 19.

The Ukrainian was set for his second successive outing in England on a Queensberry Promotions card when matched with Jones (13-1, 6 KOs) until an injury forced him to withdraw.

Now Queensberry have decided to promote Cameron (23-7-1, 10 KOs), who had been preparing to face Micky Ellison over eight, into a 10-round contest with Jones.

It will be Cameron’s first appearance since his back-to-back fights with bitter rival Ben Whittaker. Their first fight, last October, ended in a controversial technical draw after they both fell over the top rope at the end of the sixth round.

But Whittaker produced a conclusive ending to their rivalry when he stopped Cameron in the second round of their rematch at BP Pulse Arena, Birmingham on April 20.

Now 34-year-old Cameron will make his comeback in another high stakes domestic clash against Birmingham’s Jones.

The 27-year-old suffered the first defeat of his career in May when he dropped a wide points decision to Ezra Taylor at Nottingham Arena.

He bounced back by beating Bahadur Karami (4-36-4, 1 KO) over six rounds on August 30 and could fire himself into a potential British title shot if he can beat Cameron too.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Not long to go

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight Week!!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Troy Jones: Liam Cameron's bully tactics won't work on me

Whenever a fighter loses for the first time, it is very tempting from them to overanalyse the causes and consequences of the defeat and risk throwing away years of successful hard work over one bad night.

After losing his undefeated record to Ezra Taylor earlier this year, Troy Jones had no such thoughts.

Jones was disappointed but the loss hasn’t left any lasting scars or made the popular light heavyweight question his ability.

He hasn’t lay awake worrying about how the defeat will affect his ticket sales or wondering if he should rethink his approach.

Jones just wanted to get straight back in the ring. He does that this weekend. Jones (13-1, 6 KOs) will fight Liam Cameron (23-7-1, 10 KOs) at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena. The event will be broadcast by DAZN.

“You know what? I don't think about anything on the outside,” Jones (13-1, 6 KOs) told The Ring.

“I had an interview the other day and they asked me why I'm in it. I'm in it because I fight. I love fighting. I’m not in it for financial reasons, I was financially good before I started boxing. I had a good career outside of it.


“I don't need boxing for that. I'm in boxing because I like to have a fight and people who are in there against me are going to realise that when it gets tough.

“If they're getting tired and they're struggling, they're [expletive] because I'm never struggling mentally in that ring. I thrive in that ring. I love a hard fight and I love getting stuck in so whenever it gets like that, people are going to find out that that's what I'm about.”

Cameron is the third hard fight the 27-year-old from Birmingham has said ‘Yes’ to over the past six months.

Jones’ performance against Taylor earned him far more respect from boxing insiders and fans than the judges, who handed Taylor a wide unanimous decision.

Nonetheless, the loss did leave him wondering when his next opportunity would arrive. He didn’t have to wait long and leapt at the chance to fight Oleksandr Usyk’s undefeated protege, Daniel Lapin (12-0, 4 KOs).

Jones was across the Atlantic in Boston supporting his teammate, Tommy Hyde, when his trainer, Lee Beard, got the news that Lapin had withdrawn.

Although he and Beard had barely begun to put together a gameplan for Lapin, Jones had fully bought into the idea of fighting the tall, awkward Ukrainian after seeing him struggle past British and Commonwealth champion, Lewis Edmondson, in August.

The news that Liam Cameron had been drafted in as a replacement was the best news he could have hoped for.

“In regards to the British fans and the English fans, it's probably more exposure, more eyes on the fight. For people that know Cameron, they want to watch him after the Ben Whittaker fights,” Jones said.

“In regards to where I'm at and my position right now, coming off that loss I think a good statement against Cameron is probably better for my career so I was happy with the replacement.

“It's a fight for the fans. They’re going to get a good fight. You ain't got to go looking for Cameron. He's there. He don't spoil fights.”

In October 2024, Cameron appeared to be on his way to a shock victory over Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker when the two toppled over the top rope as the sixth round drew to a close. The fight was declared a technical draw and Cameron remained in the headlines until Whittaker stopped him in the second round of their rematch last April.

Cameron has spent the past 18 months chasing big names but this weekend the roles have reversed. He is the one with a target on his back and Jones is the one with everything to gain.

“Well, I want it so much that if he wants it as much as me, then he wants it a lot. I can't comment on how much he wants it and what position he is mentally in his career but I'm hungry,” he said.

“He's going to know that when I'm in there.

“I'm fit, I’m strong and I'll be there. His bully tactics that he likes to do, he's going to realise that he ain’t pushing me back in that ring and when he feels it coming back, he's going to have to change his tactics because I can outfight him and I’m going to outbox him. And that's it.”

If Jones feels that Cameron is the ideal opponent to right the ship against, Saturday’s light heavyweight-focused event also provides him with the perfect environment in which to do so.

He will be surrounded by his 175-pound peers. Some of those on the card will view him as a legitimate target while he will also have his eyes on what happens when Brad Rea defends his European title against Lyndon Arthur.

Jones knows that beating Cameron is the be-all and end-all this weekend but he is aiming to do so in a way that kicks down other doors.

“With a good performance, people are going to be calling for him against him, him against him. There's that many light heavyweights on the card that people are going to call for the fights. I'm there to answer any of them as people are going to start noticing,” he said.

“I took the Ezra fight. I took this fight. People can want one build-up fight and one easier fight. I'm not in boxing for that.

“There's that many domestic light heavyweights in England, we should all be getting it cracking. We can give the fans what they want to see and find out who's the best amongst them.

“Some might have losses and some might beat others but let's just get it cracking. I'm there for it.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Rival trainer questions Zach Parker’s ability to test Joshua Buatsi

Zach Parker lacks the power to trouble Joshua Buatsi, according to the trainer of their divisional rival Anthony Yarde.

Buatsi and Parker fight on Saturday at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, in what represents Buatsi’s first contest since his first defeat, in February by Callum Smith.

The 31-year-old Parker is, unlike Buatsi, unbeaten at light heavyweight, having moved up following his only defeat – in 2022 against John Ryder at 168lbs.

Yarde, who fights David Benavidez for the WBC light-heavyweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 22, had previously been on course to fight the 32-year-old Buatsi. Should Buatsi win on Saturday, plans to match them could also be revived in 2026.

Yarde’s trainer Babatunde Ajayi, regardless, expects him to do so. He not only believes that Parker will struggle to hurt Buatsi, but that Buatsi, despite having been hurt and beaten by Smith, possesses the mental and physical strength to recover from his first defeat.

“His mentality – he’s come from a hard place,” Ajayi told BS. “I know Ghanaians. They’re very tough people. Look at Azumah Nelson – he wasn’t the most technical fighter. But what a tough man. Always came up short against technical fighters. Joshua and Callum Smith is a modern-day example.

“But he’s strong. The people that will give Joshua a run for his money are people that can match him for mental strength. Skill, as we saw with Fabio [Wardley] and [Joseph] Parker, sometimes doesn’t play a part to will, heart and desire.

“I fully expect Joshua Buatsi to win that fight. Joshua’s proved more; won the British title incredibly quick. For whatever reason he’s just not taken the right chances at the right time, because competition gets better; it doesn’t get easier. Sometimes, a lot of these fighters – not only Joshua – are waiting for the right moment and not challenging it, and ultimately, no matter what you achieve, a couple months after you’re on to the next one. You’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and take these challenges.

“He may end up being the undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the world, but it’s class, isn’t it? The class is definitely with Joshua. The professionalism is with Joshua as well. Good fighter. Very good fighter. I’ve always rated Josh. I just got angry when he said he was going to fight us and didn’t fight us.”

Ajayi was then asked what he considered to be Buatsi’s weakness, and he responded: “Dealing with pressure. That sounds like a contradiction. But a lot of mentally tough people are only mentally strong when the going is for them. As soon as things don’t go right, they hit a wall and they don’t know what to do. This is where the IQ plays a part.

“Other than that, Josh ticks all boxes. It’s more about himself. I don’t have nothing bad to say about Josh, because you have fighting, and then you have the business side. The business side is what I love, ‘cause I can play games, and I might say something. I’d never disrespect any fighter, unless they’re talking about Ant. [Buatsi] can do everything. He’s what every teacher wants – somebody that’s willing to listen. Somebody that’s willing to put in hard work, and very dedicated to what he says he wants to be. Very good fighter.

“I’ve heard that Zach is not really a clean liver, which surprised me. If those comments are true, he’s going to come unstuck, because that’s what always happens with people who play the game at 95 per cent against people who play at 100 per cent.

“[A strength is his] awkwardness, but he seems to have stopped that now and [to be] going back to the traditional style. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. I think he should go back to that switch-hitting [style]. His unorthodox style, which he had early days, when he was switch hitting, coming from different angles, is the Zach Parker that could give Josh Buatsi problems early.

“I don’t know about his punch power – I don’t think he’s as solid as Josh. But punch power’s also levels. One of my favourite sayings is ‘Power is determined by who’s standing in front of you’. Who would have thought Terence Crawford would have enough pop in him to really make Canelo [Saul Alvarez] take steps back? GGG [Gennady Golovkin] couldn’t do that. Power’s determined by who’s in front of you, and that’s where Zach’s going to have a problem.

“I think [Buatsi will] stop him.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Lone wolf Buatsi ready to climb light-heavyweight mountain after first career defeat

More than eight months have passed since Joshua Buatsi suffered the first defeat of his career and his assessment of the situation has not softened in the interim.

That night, at ANB Arena, Riyadh, the Ghana-born Londoner dropped a close decision to Callum Smith after one of the Fights of the Year.

But does he take any comfort from the fact his maiden loss came in a hellacious battle for which he received plenty of credit? “Honestly, absolutely none," he says.

“There’s nothing that anyone can say that would make me think any different. When you go on Boxrec it says I lost, right? So I am just interested in the result and that’s what hurts.

“It doesn’t say Buatsi lost but it was a good scrap, it just says I lost and that’s something I never ever want to experience.”

As is the nature of boxing, especially the stacked light-heavyweight division, the defeat sent Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs) straight to the back of the queue again. The 32-year-old has been professional since 2017 and therefore climbing steadily towards a world title shot for the best part of eight years. As it happened, Buatsi ultimately fell at the final hurdle before he might have expected his first crack at a belt.

Instead, he will return in a fight against fellow contender Zach Parker (26-1, 18 KOs) in the main event of Queensberry’s show at Co-op Live Arena on Saturday, live on DAZN. A second successive defeat to a domestic rival would be an unthinkable blow to his world title ambitions.

“Did I have to pick myself up after the Smith fight? Not really,” Buatsi recalls. “I don’t want to make things up that didn’t happen but of course I was very upset.

“I had my family, my faith and charity. Those three things stuck close to me and maybe they helped pick me back up if I was down and I was upset.

“But really I spent a lot of time alone. That was important because if you are around a crowd all the time it might cloud your judgement of how you feel. I made sure I had time alone to see if I really am good and to check myself.”

That alone time took him back to Africa. First to Ghana and then onto Ethiopia, where he brought in his 32nd birthday exactly 20 days after his defeat to Smith. It was also the scene of what Buatsi described as the hardest thing he’s ever done. For a man who has competed at the Olympics and at the sharp end of professional boxing too, that is saying something.

The setting was Abuna Yemata Guh, a sixth century church carved directly into the Gheralta mountains around 1,000km north of the country’s capital Addis Ababa. It is widely considered the world’s least accessible place of worship and perhaps the perfect place for a once-beaten man to soul search.

“I’m at the bottom looking up thinking ‘how am I supposed to get up that?’ There’s no harness, no safety net, no equipment. If you fall off you don’t get injured, it’s straight death. They say that mothers carry their kids up there so I thought it would be easy work for a man like me, in my 30s. But no; hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

For Buatsi, however, that challenge came at the perfect time given the circumstances.

“Definitely the perfect time,” he says. “I’m up in the hills in the middle of nowhere. I got time to be alone, ask myself some questions and check myself which is what I needed.”

The image of Buatsi, having just suffered the first defeat of his career, standing at the foot of a mountain gazing up towards the top wondering exactly how he’s going to get there is an appropriate one at this point.

He is The Ring’s No. 5-rated light heavyweight and remains fifth with the WBC and No. 6 with the WBO. He is currently not inside the top 15 with the IBF or WBA. On his return from Africa, it was not long before Buatsi returned to camp in the hopes of a late summer outing, he has had to wait until November but that has only given him and his coach Virgil Hunter more time to fine tune.

“Virgil says that no general goes to war to keep things the same,” Buatsi says. “So we have done things differently.

“It has been a very interesting camp, a long camp, but it’s been good and I’m looking forward to fighting again now. Rather than making specific changes it has just been about identifying areas of improvement.

“We have found what I obviously need to work on and we’ve been drilling that and making sure I get it right.

“I’ve had a lot of fights with other British fighters; Smith, Dan Azeez, Craig Richards, Willy Hutchinson and now Parker. They are exciting fights and the nation watches.

“Here we are again with another one on November 1.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

[samwbr]

Buatsi has had a strange career, looks to have it all but still not done it. This must be a last chance to look the real deal.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Zach Parker on Joshua Buatsi bout: ‘It doesn’t get much bigger than this’

Zach Parker is under no illusions about the size of the task facing him this weekend.

Parker is in the biggest fight of his life against Joshua Buatsi on Saturday in Manchester, UK, in a light heavyweight bout that has been described as a must-win for both.

Parker is 26-1 (18 KOs) but has spent most of his career at 168lbs. Although it’s a weight the Derby, UK, man insists he can still make, Parker has not made it since he badly broke his hand against John Ryder in 2022 and could not go on beyond the fourth round.

He has had four fights in the three years since, but he has maintained his conditioning.

“I try and stay in the gym all year round,” Parker told Boxing Scene. “Obviously, I’ve been a bit inactive, but I’m looking forward to it as far as it’s a massive fight. It don’t get much bigger than this, really, headlining in Manchester and first time fighting on DAZN.

“I’ve been keeping myself busy – a bit of family life as well. But I’m looking forward to this fight.”

That family life includes getting married in 2024, looking after his daughter, Nova, and having another baby on the way.

But Parker’s mind is very much concentrated on Buatsi, whom he rates highly.

“He’s obviously been fighting at light heavyweight his whole career, so he’s well into the weight and he had a good fight that last fight, even though he lost,” Parker said, referring to Buatsi’s defeat against Callum Smith in a 12-round thriller in February. “I just feel like I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. I’m looking forward to it. This is probably the first fight in my whole pro career that I’ve not had like no niggles or little aches or whatever. I’m going into it fully fit and ready to rock and roll on the first of November.”

Parker acknowledged that making 175lbs is “a lot easier.” He has even been trying to build into the weight, but he reckons he’s a fully fledged light heavyweight now.

“If there was massive fights at 12st, I could go down to that,” he said. “But, yeah, there ain’t nothing at 12st at the minute. Obviously, Canelo [Saul Alvarez] had all the belts and he just lost against [Terence] Crawford, but there’s a lot of opportunities at light heavy, and I was massive for the weight at super middle.

“There’s a lot of British lads at light heavy and obviously [Dmitry] Bivol and [Artur] Beterbiev, I don’t know if they’re going to fight again yet. But I feel like Bivol will fight anyone out there, and the likes of Canelo, I think he was just going step-by-step and wanting the biggest money he can make.”

Parker is in good company on the roster of light heavyweights at Queensberry Promotions. As well as Buatsi, there are, among others, Lyndon Arthur, Anthony Yarde, Liam Cameron and Bradley Rea.

“All the British light heavies, Frank [Warren]’s got them,” Parker continued. “There’s a lot of big fights, and I’m with the right promotion at the minute.”

Two notables elsewhere are Callum Smith, who is headed toward a fight with David Morrell Jnr in 2026, and new Matchroom signing Ben Whittaker.

Parker said Whittaker would have just signed with whoever offered him the most money – “like most of his boxers do, we want to get paid for what we're doing” – and he believes one of the reasons Buatsi has not won a world title is because in his 20-fight career he has been under the Queensberry, Boxxer and Matchroom banners.

“His career has been a bit stop-and-start,” Parker said. “He’s been with a few different promotions, and they ain’t been active. … I try and just focus on myself, really. I’m just zoned into what I’ve got to do. If I’ve got a big fight, I'm not really looking at anyone else until I may be fighting them and now I can study them.”

Parker has watched Buatsi’s fight with Smith and enjoyed it, but he said his style is far different from Smith’s, which will make for a different type of contest.

Parker knows, too, that he has a point to prove. The loss to Ryder was unavoidable, but he knows his failure to battle on with a hand that didn’t work was held against him, if not widely in the trade then certainly on social media.

“People can get injured in fights, and it was a really bad injury,” he said. “It broke and then obviously I had to have a recovery. … My daughter was born a couple of weeks before, so she kept me busy after it. I just had a little bit of family time, chilled out for a bit and then, obviously, I’ve come back and I’ve got all the wins, just all [the things] you’ve got to do after losses, just keep focused on yourself, really, don’t be thinking about what other people are thinking about you. A lot of these people on social media … I only use social media to put my boxing stuff on and then put my family on every now and again. I don’t really look at all the comments and whatnot like a lot of people do. It does get to people, doesn’t it? You hear about mental illnesses and stuff off it – social media.

“I don’t really look at social media unless I’m posting something. That’s what I’ve been like all my life, really. I’m like, ‘Mate, none of you have been in the ring and been in there. It’s a totally different story when you’re in there.’ And a lot of them may not even have been pushed out of their comfort zone, even in a training session. So, yeah, I don’t really look at it. It’s just all outside noise.”

When his hand broke, Parker could no longer make a fist and was later told he could have suffered nerve damage had he continued. Punching was not an option. He has fully recovered from the injury, but he also knew that against a southpaw like Ryder, the right hand would have been his best weapon, and then it was null and void.

Against Darryll Williams for the British title in 2018, Parker had to box after suffering a dislocated shoulder early in the fight. Many felt he was fortunate to take a controversial decision.

On Saturday against Buatsi, Parker has the opportunity to win over any lingering doubters, and he doesn’t think that pushing Buatsi hard in a close fight is enough to show he’s a world-class fighter.

“I need to beat him,” Parker concluded. “I’m not in boxing to come in to make the numbers up. I need to beat him. I want to do it in a good fashion, as well. Like I say, we’re probably the top two in Britain, just behind Callum Smith, who’s knocking at the door of these big titles.

“And I don’t want to just go in there and try and scrape through a win. I need to put on a show, and show people what I’m all about. I feel like people have not even seen 30 per cent of me. I need to go out and do it in good fashion.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Joshua Buatsi fully focused on 'dangerous' Zach Parker

Joshua Buatsi lives a monastic life ahead of his fights.

He turned up for the final press conference ahead of this weekend’s match-up with Zach Parker showing the results of his efforts.

Sporting a thick beard and with his long hair stuffed under a baseball cap, The Ring's No. 5-ranked light heavyweight politely went through the motions and completed media duties before retreating back to his hotel to begin cutting his final few pounds before Friday’s weigh-in.

DAZN will broadcast Saturday’s event live from Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena.

On Saturday, he will cut a totally different figure. The hair will be short, the beard gone, and the 32-year-old will show the world what he has been working on since losing his undefeated record and WBO interim light heavyweight title to Callum Smith last February.

For the time being, however, Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs) isn’t willing to give any insight into his mindset or his tactics. He can ill afford to lose a second consecutive fight, but if he is feeling any pressure, it would be all but impossible to tell.

“Might be,” he said. “It’s a fight that I know I must win and a fight that I’ve prepared very hard for and I’m looking forward to."

Buatsi has faced a number of British fighters on his rise through the ranks. He cruised to the British title and beat the highly-rated Craig Richards, Dan Azeez and Willy Hutchinson before running into former WBA super middleweight champion Smith.

The talented Parker (26-1, 19 KOs) is a former British champion at super middleweight but has yet to truly make his mark at 175 pounds. Nonetheless, he is ranked at No. 3 with the WBO, and Buatsi is taking him extremely seriously.

“Currently, I’ll put him at number one,” Buatsi said when asked where the 31-year-old ranks amongst his British rivals. “He’s the next guy that I need to beat to keep moving forward so, for me, he’s number one.

“A fighter that’s ambitious, that makes him dangerous. Parker seems very ambitious, so he’ll be a dangerous fighter, and it’s for me to go out there and handle business.”

[handsofstone]

Lost a lot of respect for Buatsi for bottling the title fight against Bivol especially after all the inactivity and his age he should've took it with both hands, he beats Parker still

[Ruthless-RKO]

Lost a lot of respect for Buatsi for bottling the title fight against Bivol especially after all the inactivity and his age he should've took it with both hands, he beats Parker still

Too many belts to go after isn't there.

I mean now the LHW has one champion.. But with all the ABC's, its no wonder boxers duck world title fights.

Imagine there was just one champion?

He'd probably still duck a world title challenge

[handsofstone]

Lost a lot of respect for Buatsi for bottling the title fight against Bivol especially after all the inactivity and his age he should've took it with both hands, he beats Parker still

Too many belts to go after isn't there.

I mean now the LHW has one champion.. But with all the ABC's, its no wonder boxers duck world title fights.

Imagine there was just one champion?

He'd probably still duck a world title challenge

wouldn't be surprised, I've always rated Buatsi and he has some solid wins, 9 years a pro now, he should've took his shot

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

Lost a lot of respect for Buatsi for bottling the title fight against Bivol especially after all the inactivity and his age he should've took it with both hands, he beats Parker still

Too many belts to go after isn't there.

I mean now the LHW has one champion.. But with all the ABC's, its no wonder boxers duck world title fights.

Imagine there was just one champion?

He'd probably still duck a world title challenge

wouldn't be surprised, I've always rated Buatsi and he has some solid wins, 9 years a pro now, he should've took his shot

I remember when he beat Quinlan on the the Whyte-Chisora rematch,

Here we are, those two are about to have a trilogy and Buatsi's career is in the same place

[samwbr]

Interested to see what/if the Smith fight has taken out of him, it was brutal. He hasn't had a stoppage in 4 years.