Joshua Buatsi


Joshua Buatsi is a Ghanaian-born British professional boxer. He has held the British light heavyweight title since March 2019. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the light heavyweight division at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Early life

Buatsi was born on 14 March 1993 in Accra, Ghana. After his family moved to the UK, they resided in Croydon. Buatsi studied at Edenham High School. Buatsi graduated with a 2:1 degree in Management with Sports Science from St Mary's University, Twickenham, while also competing as an amateur boxer.

Amateur career

Joshua started his early boxing career at the South Norwood and Victory club, Charnwood Road, Crystal Palace, London, England. His trainer, Terry Smith, worked hard with Josh right up until he signed with Herne’s Matchroom Boxing. Mark Gillespie, the second coach at SNaV, followed Josh into the professional circuit both leaving their amateur roots.
At the 2016 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Samsun, Turkey, Buatsi defeated Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak in his semifinal and Dutch boxer Peter Müllenberg in the final of the light-heavyweight tournament to secure his place in Rio as part of the Great Britain team.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's light-heavyweight competition, he defeated Elshod Rasulov of Uzbekistan with a third round knock-out, to progress to the quarter finals.

Professional career

Early career

Buatsi made his professional debut on 1 July 2017, when he fought Carlos Mena at The O2 Arena. Buatsi won the fight by knockout in the second round. He next fought on 1 September against Baptiste Castegnaro, winning by knockout in the fifth round. On 28 October 2017, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, Buatsi fought Saidou Sall in a six round bout, winning the bout 60-54.
Buatsi’s first fight of 2018 was against Jordan Joseph, he won the bout by stoppage in the second round after Joseph’s corner threw the towel in. He went on to defeat Bartlomiej Grafka 60-54 over six rounds on 31 March and Stephane Cuevas by knockout in the fifth round on the undercard of Tony Bellew vs David Haye on 5 May.
On 23 March 2019, Buatsi defeated Liam Conroy via technical knockout in round three to claim the vacant British light heavyweight title at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.
In his US debut, on the Joshua vs Ruiz undercard at the Madison Square Garden, Buatsi defeated Mexican veteran and former title challenger Marco Antonio Periban within four rounds. Buatsi first dropped his opponent, and after he got up, unleashed a flurry of shots at him, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
In his next fight, Buatsi faced another veteran, Canadian Ryan Ford. Ford proved to be a good test for the young Buatsi, but in the end, Buatsi managed to get a seventh-round stoppage.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
12Win12–0 Ryan FordKO7, 1:0731 Aug 2019 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandRetained WBA International light heavyweight title
11Win11–0 Marco Antonio PeribánTKO4, 1:391 Jun 2019 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.Retained WBA International light heavyweight title
10Win10–0 Liam ConroyTKO3, 1:5323 Mar 2019 Copper Box Arena, London, EnglandWon vacant British light heavyweight title
9Win9–0 Renold QuinlanTKO1, 1:5022 Dec 2018 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandRetained WBA International light heavyweight title
8Win8–0 Tony AverlantTKO1, 2:5313 Oct 2018 Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, EnglandRetained WBA International light heavyweight title
7Win7–0 Andrejs PokumeikoTKO1, 1:5128 Jul 2018 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandWon vacant WBA International light heavyweight title
6Win6–0 Stephane CuevasTKO5, 0:505 May 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England
5Win5–0 Bartlomiej GrafkaPTS631 Mar 2018 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
4Win4–0 Jordan JosephTKO2, 2:433 Feb 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England
3Win3–0 Saidou Sall628 Oct 2017 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
2Win2–0 Baptiste CastegnaroTKO5, 1:061 Sep 2017 York Hall, London, England
1Win1–0 Carlos Mena2, 1:191 Jul 2017 The O2 Arena, London, England