Saturday’s eagerly awaited light-heavyweight fight between Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez has been postponed with the news that Azeez has suffered a back injury during his final training session this week.
Why Is Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez Postponed? Trapped Nerve Forces Azeez To Pull Out
30 year-old former Olympic bronze medallist Joshua Buatsi was looking forward to taking on the Dan Azeez in a fight eliminator at London’s O2 Arena, with the winner setting up a fight with WBA world champion Dmitry Bivol.
However, a late training setback for WBA second-ranked fighter Azeez has seen the 34 year-old having to pull out of the fight with a trapped nerve in his neck.
Sky Sports were set to broadcast the fight, while the best boxing betting sites had installed Buatsi as the 3/10 favourite, with Azeez the slight outsider at 11/4.
Azeez said “I’m devastated for this to happen on fight week. It still hasn’t sunk in, I’ve never had to withdraw from a fight in my career before. I want to apologise to all the fans, especially those travelling to the fight.”
He added “I am also extremely sorry to my opponent Joshua Buatsi, to my promoter and to everyone involved who has worked so hard on this date. I hope this fight can be rescheduled as soon as possible.”
Buatsi and Azeez, who are good friends away from the ring too, were also both putting their undefeated records on the line which gave the fight an added sub-plot.
Azeez is the English Commonwealth and European Champion, with 20 straight wins to his name (13 by KO), while Buatsi would have come into the fight unbeaten in 17 pro fights (13 KO).
Saturday’s bout was expected to see a strong 10,000+ crowd head to the O2 Arena in London, with both London fighters also set to box in their hometowns.
Further details of the rescheduled fight are still to be announced.
Ben Shalom (Boxxer founder and CEO) added: “This is a big shock. I know that Dan [Azeez] would do anything to be in the ring on Saturday night and for this to happen at this stage is devastating.
“This is a huge fight for British boxing, but the health and safety of our fighters must come first. My heart goes out to Dan and Joshua, who have both completed tough camps, and to the fans.”
BREAKING NEWS 🚨
Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez is OFF after Azeez picked up a back injury ❌#BuatsiAzeez | #BoxingNews pic.twitter.com/FxZNCTdCAH
— IFL TV (@IFLTV) October 17, 2023
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