Joshua Buatsi takes a shot at Matchroom Boxing after making BOXXER switch

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Joshua Buatsi has landed a parting shot on his former promoter Eddie Hearn – claiming he was “not a priority” for Matchroom Boxing.

The 30-year-old unbeaten light-heavyweight signed a long-term deal with BOXXER last week with his future fights on Sky Sports.

Croydon’s Buatsi had previously fought on the channel while under contract to Matchroom Boxing, before they moved over to streaming platform DAZN.

Matchroom boss Hearn claimed that the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist turned down a payday in excess of £1million to challenge WBA world champion Dmitry Bivol.

Buatsi told Seconds Out: “A mill was offered, something like that, but was it solely fighting Bivol and that’s it? Or were there other caveats – extension clauses and other things that come with it? Of course there are things that come with it that I wasn’t happy about.

“I’m looking out for myself as the fighter and as a person. I said no, let that (opportunity) go by – agreeing to fight Bivol and having another four fights extension. Why would I want to do that? Why would I want to be somewhere where I don’t feel like a priority, I feel like an option.

“It was said to me: ‘Win this fight against this opponent and you get the shot’. It didn’t happen. Then it was: ‘Okay, win your next fight against this opponent and you get the shot’. It didn’t happen.

“Purse bids for important fights and final eliminators for the IBF – it didn’t happen.

“Sixteen times I was in the ring and 16 times I won. I’m doing my part. There is a bit more I could’ve done, in terms of being more accessible to the public, but whenever I enterred the ring I did my job.

“This person will tell you today that the sky is blue and tomorrow it’s black, tomorrow it is purple. Rather than engage online and on social media, I chose to be silent about it. I followed my contract and when it was expired, go to the market and get the best deal for myself.

“I can only live in the now. The now is I’ve got a good deal, good promoters and a good platform. I can only move forward and it’s time to move on.”

Matchroom signed Buatsi in 2017 after he opted to quit the amateur ranks after medalling in Brazil.

He won two titles on their watch – the WBA International and British.

Hearn said: “I feel like we did a great job with him, we never had a falling out or a bad conversation. It’s going back to people filling fighters’ heads with rubbish.

“Joshua Buatsi has boxed his whole career on Sky outside of two fights and now it is [portrayed] as this fresh new platform that no-one has ever seen before. It’s really not. It’s a great platform – as is DAZN. And the viewing figures for DAZN globally is on another level to BOXXER viewership globally.

“We walked him into a seven-figure payday to fight Dmitry Bivol for the world title. He still wants to fight at domestic level for now.

“He didn’t want the Jean Pascal fight (a final eliminator for the IBF belt which American promoter Lou DiBella won the purse bid for). We lost with a very competitive purse bid, I think it was £500,000.”

PICTURES: BOXXER AND MATCHROOM BOXING