Joshua Buatsi is still keen for an all-British fight with Anthony Yarde after he returned to the ring for the first time in 350 days with an underwhelming win over Pawel Stepien.
Buatsi, who had not fought since May 2022, maintained his unbeaten record as he overcame the Pole on points.
The 30-year-old has been linked to a light-heavyweight bout with Yarde for some time.
“It’s been right for a long time. Interest is still there,” Buatsi said.
“I have been saying all week and a long time, I don’t want to turn 40 and say ‘damn, I didn’t fight Anthony Yarde’.”
Buatsi struggled to break down the ultra-defensive Stepien, who was fighting outside his home country for the first time, and showed signs of ring rust in his first bout for new promoters Boxxer in Birmingham.
The light-heavyweight, who won Olympic bronze in 2016, remains unbeaten in 17 fights while Stepien suffered his first loss in his 20th professional bout.
Afterwards Buatsi said the result was most important, while also defending Stepien’s performance.
‘It was good to be back out there’
With the 32-year-old Polish fighter defensively solid but lacking power on the front foot, it seemed Buatsi could have gone through the gears at any point.
Other than a couple of big swings in the fifth, and a final two rounds when he opened up more, the Ghana-born fighter was happy to close out a unanimous points win that seemed destined from the opening bell.
“Ultimately, it was about the win, because if I hadn’t it would have made my next fight very difficult for me,” Buatsi said. “It was an OK performance, but it was good for me to be back out there.”
On Stepien, he said: “That’s what happens when you get in the ring – when someone is hitting you, your plans change. Let’s not go with the narrative that he came to cover up or survive, he came to win, but when you start boxing the energy changes.”
Buatsi is now targeting a fight with the winner of Artur Beterbiev’s upcoming fight with Callum Smith. He has also been linked to fellow British light-heavyweights Dan Azeez and Yarde.
Most important for him is not to have a year-long wait for his next bout.
“Ideally I would like a step-up opponent, and be out there in July, maybe August,” Buatsi said. “I’ll be heading out to camp very soon. Domestic or international I don’t mind, I just want a big fight to take my ranking up.”
Whittaker returns in style
Earlier in the evening, Ben Whittaker returned to the ring in style with a third-round knockout victory over Jordan Grant.
This was the 2020 Olympic silver medallist’s first fight since in August when he suffered a shoulder injury during his fight on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch win over Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.
Whittaker certainly made the most of it with a flamboyant, Naseem Hamed-inspired ring entrance, dancing in silhouette behind a white sheet before emerging in a leopard-print cloak and matching shorts, along with bright white gloves, while supporters in his corner blew vuvuzelas.
Hailing from West Bromwich, Whittaker whipped up his home Midlands crowd before walking the walk in the ring with a dominant victory full of showboating.
In the first round, Whittaker’s antics included hopping on one leg, showing his left arm to the crowd after catching Grant, as well as exchanging words with the TV commentators and goading the defensive Grant into trying to hit him.
Whittaker then upped his game in the second round, raising a big bruise on Grant’s eye before flooring him with a sharp right late in the second.
Grant hit the canvas for the final time 17 seconds into the third round, to maintain Whittaker’s perfect record from three professional fights so far.