Joshua Buatsi fights Dan Azeez in an all-British contest on Saturday after the original date was postponed from October last year, when Azeez picked up a back injury days before the light-heavyweight bout; watch Buatsi vs Azeez on February 3 live on Sky Sports
Wednesday 31 January 2024 18:05, UK
Joshua Buatsi still hopes a highly-anticipated fight with Anthony Yarde can happen "sooner rather than later", as he also aims for a world title fight this year.
But his focus is on this Saturday's light-heavyweight bout against Dan Azeez, live on Sky Sports.
Buatsi had a quiet 2023, fighting only once in the calendar year with a unanimous decision victory over Pawel Stepien. That kept the Croydon fighter, ranked No 1 with the WBA, on the verge on a world title shot.
Frustration hit the 30-year-old when his all-British light-heavyweight fight was delayed after Azeez suffered a back injury in one of the final sessions of his training camp.
When asked to describe his 2023 in three words, he only offered one, "unpredictable" but was keen to look only at the positives of his year.
"It's been very unpredictable, I'm still grateful how the year's gone, it could have been a lot worse," Buatsi told Sky Sports.
"I could be on here saying I had a fight [and] I lost, so there's always a positive way to look at things, which I try to do in most situations.
"But yes, very unpredictable, it hasn't gone exactly how I want it to go, but as I said, you could look at the negatives and it could be a lot worse."
Despite an underwhelming year, Buatsi said he is hoping for a smoother 2024, with a target of at least three bouts in the ring including a shot at facing Yarde; an opponent he has been linked with since turning professional, after he won an Olympic bronze medal in 2016.
"Hopefully that will be one for 2024 as well," he said. "Especially [to] get it on sooner rather than later.
"Of course, if someone has world titles at stake, or an opportunity to fight for one, then cool, I get it. If not, I do think, yeah, we can get in the mix and mix it up."
Getting himself to the cusp of a title shot last year, Buatsi is aiming to bring that to fruition later this year.
Whilst Buatsi was optimistic about his fighting prospects, he was not keen on thinking too much about the long-term and remains focused on the first task at hand, his rescheduled match against Azeez.
"Of course, you know the winner of this one gets a crack at gold, so [the aim] would be to do that. But as of now, my only goal right now is to win the next fight," he said.
"Right now sitting here, that's my goal. You know, I haven't thought or looked down any further because I know this is something that I have to get through.
"So I never have those things when people say where do you see yourself in five years. To some extent, I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow," Buatsi added.
"People always come with this long term thing and I'm like, you can't predict. You don't know what's going to happen."
Ahead of this bout against the similarly unbeaten Azeez, Buatsi insisted that his friendship with the 34-year-old, which has been strained since the postponement of their fight, will not get in the way of his desire to beat him on Saturday.
"This is what we do, whether I know the person or not, this is what we do," Buatsi declared.
"It's a fight at the end of the day. I signed up and so did he, so there is no holding back. The 'oh this guy's hurt and I know him', no, you make sure you get the job done.
"After, you shake hands and make sure everyone is cool."
Watch Joshua Buatsi face Dan Azeez this Saturday live on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm and Sky Sports Main Event from 8.30pm.
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