Boxing News of Sunday, 14 October 2018

Source: yen.com.gh

Joshua Buatsi destroys Tony Averlant in round one

Joshua Buatsi Joshua Buatsi

Ghanaian-born British boxer, Joshua Buatsi, blitzed the body of Anthony Averlant inside one round to take his record to 8-0.

Per a report by the Sun.co.uk sighted by YEN.com.gh, the 25-year-old Croydon star dropped the Frenchman inside 52 seconds with a thunderous hook to the ribs in a brutal warning of what was to come in waves.

The Ghana-born Brit stalked his rival around the ring for two more minutes before another ruthless left hook to the ribs ruined the visitor.

The biggest problem in Newcastle, for the Anthony Joshua-managed star, was finding a barber for his superstitious Friday shave and haircut.

The 6ft 2in ace put out a social media appeal and it must have worked because he looked razor sharp on Saturday night.

Averlant was beaten by fellow Brit Anthony Yarde last time out, pulled out by his corner after seven one-sided rounds.

Buatsi was born on 14 March 1993 in Accra, Ghana. His family moved to the UK, they resided in Croydon. Buatsi studied at Edenham High School; which has now been re-named as Orchard Park High School since 2017.

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.

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.

Buatsi made his professional debut on 1 July 2017, when he fought Carlos Mena. Buatsi won the fight by knock out 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 May 5.