Scottish boxer Willy Hutchinson is set to compete for the vacant WBC light-heavyweight title this Saturday at Manchester’s AO Arena. He will face British rival Joshua Buatsi in a rematch of their 2024 encounter, which saw Buatsi secure a split-decision victory.
A Long-Held Ambition
At the final pre-fight news conference, the 28-year-old Hutchinson revealed that he has been working toward this moment since he was a teenager. While working with his father at age 13, he recorded his boxing aspirations in a notebook, with becoming a WBC world champion listed as his primary goal.
“I wrote on a pen and book that I’ll become Scottish, British, European and world amateur champion,” Hutchinson told BBC Sport. “On the opposite side of this book – I’m 13 and I still have this book to this day – I wrote that I’ll become WBC champion of the world. I already got the silver and the international and now I’m fighting for the main belt.”
The fight was upgraded to a world title bout after David Benavidez vacated the WBC gold to move up to the cruiserweight division. Hutchinson, who previously made history as the first Scottish boxer to win gold at the amateur World Championships at the youth level, noted the significance of the timing, as the date of his upcoming fight aligns closely with the anniversary of his amateur success.
Buatsi’s Path to the Ring
While Hutchinson has long envisioned this career path, his opponent, 33-year-old Joshua Buatsi, took a different route. Buatsi admitted that becoming a professional boxer was not a childhood ambition for him.
“My life was very different to all of this. Fighting in arenas, winning titles and going to the Olympics, as a little boy, this wasn’t a dream of mine,” Buatsi explained. The Londoner, who earned an Olympic bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Games, currently holds a professional record of 20 wins and one loss.
Buatsi noted that his passion for the sport developed only after he began competing and finding success. “When I started the sport, I got off to winning ways, carried on, and then the dream came,” he said. “As a little boy, if you asked if I wanted to do this, hell no. I didn’t have the vision for it, but now I’ve had it, we’ve tuned in on it, and we’re almost there.”
A Mature Approach to the Rematch
The atmosphere between the two fighters appeared more composed than during their first meeting. Hutchinson, who previously engaged in psychological tactics to unsettle his opponent, emphasized that he has matured since their last bout. Despite a tense face-off at Manchester’s New Century Hall, both men maintained a level of mutual respect.
When asked by broadcaster Adam Smith if he would bring his childhood notebook to the arena on Saturday, Hutchinson indicated that he would likely be able to arrange it. The winner of the bout will claim the vacant WBC light-heavyweight championship.
