Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson Preview & Prediction
by Rob Esteva ·
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Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson get it on for a second time at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday night, with the vacant WBC light-heavyweight title on the line.
Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson facts
What time are Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson expected to walk out?
Where is Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson? AO Arena, Manchester, UK
What TV channel is Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson on? UK – DAZN / USA – DAZN
Where can I stream Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson? UK – DAZN / USA – DAZN
Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson main card
Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson (vacant WBC Light-heavyweight title)
Jack Rafferty vs Hovhannes Martirosyan (vacant IBO Welterweight title)
Zak Miller vs Gully Powar (vacant British Featherweight title)
Joshua Buatsi: Looking to prove the first win was no fluke
Joshua Buatsi (20-1) will be looking to back up his previous win over Willy Hutchinson, which came via split decision when they met in September 2024.
Buatsi knocked Hutchinson down twice before the fight went to the scorecards, with two judges scoring it 117-108 and 115-110 in his favour, while the third had it 113-112 for Hutchinson. Buatsi will have been disappointed not to have finished the job that night.
After that fight, he took on fellow Brit Callum Smith in Saudi Arabia in what was a thriller, but he lost a unanimous decision. He bounced back last November with a win over Zach Parker in an incredibly close fight, edging a majority decision.
Willy Hutchinson: Desperate to avenge his only defeat to Buatsi
Willy Hutchinson will have rued the two knockdowns he suffered against Buatsi when they met just over two years ago, as he boxed incredibly well in the second half of that fight.
He has bounced back in style since that defeat, with wins including a seventh-round knockout of Mark Jeffers and a unanimous decision victory over the previously unbeaten Ezra Taylor last time out in March.
Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson prediction
This promises to be another great fight between two talented boxers. They are very different in style but very evenly matched, which makes for great intrigue.
Buatsi clearly has the edge in power, and he will be looking to stop Hutchinson in his tracks and show there was no fluke about his previous victory. Hutchinson, however, will want to prove he is the better fighter, and he will be desperate to avenge that loss.
There are concerns around Buatsi, who may have taken a step back since the first fight. Hutchinson can study the tape of Buatsi’s defeat to Callum Smith as a roadmap for how he can enjoy success here. He will have to box clever and avoid Buatsi’s power, especially in the first half of the fight, but he is more than capable of doing that.
There are some similarities to the first fight between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, in which Fury was knocked down twice, and we can see Hutchinson learning from that first encounter and coming back stronger in the rematch, just as Fury did.
We have some concerns about how much Buatsi has left in the tank, and the longer Hutchinson can drag this out, the better his chances of winning. This really could go either way, and both fighters have routes to victory, but our preference is for the Scot to outbox Buatsi and win this on the scorecards.
Prediction: Willy Hutchinson to win on points
