Updated: May 15, 2021 11:54 pm
Largely a stay busy fight 10-round for Joshua Buatsi, he efficiently and dominantly dispatched Daniel Dos Santos with a highlight-reel worthy 4th round knockout, retaining his WBA International Light-Heavyweight title.
Now it’s time to kick on and get into those big-money title fights and eliminators.
The Fight
In the first round, Buatsi confidently placed his jab into Dos Santos’ face and body, stalking him as the round went on. Buatsi dominated the opener, continuously landing clean jabs on a running Dos Santos.
Adding power punches gradually to the fight, Buatsi began landing crosses and hooks to the head and body of Dos Santos. A short right-hand lands on Dos Santos after a flurry of power punches, nothing landing totally clean but he goes down, given an 8 count. The difference in quality was quite evident between the two fighters.
Whenever the two engage, it always seemed that Dos Santos was out of his depth and panic replied with a few shots but with nothing behind them. Previous criticism of Buatsi, noticeable in his previous fight versus Marko Calic was he had a lack of head movement. With Dos Santos having no pop behind his shots, it didn’t seem to matter a great deal.
Largely the same as the fight entered the 4th until the big shot landed. Huge overhand right lands flush on Dos Santos’ chin, with a follow up right and the referee waves the fight off. What a finish that was!
The pressure just seemed too much from Buatsi against a fighter who was undefeated but the first time that Dos Santos had fought outside of his native France. Little was known of Dos Santos’ quality pre-fight but I believe he’s ready for the big fights.
Post-fight, full of emotion, Dos Santos was in tears, understandably. The class of Buatsi definitely shone through, consoling the fight after the knockout and once the results were read by David Diamante.
Now he needs world level fights, eliminators, title fights, you name them.
Who’s Next?
A fight against Dmitry Bivol would be a huge step up but intriguing matchup. The Kyrgyzstani fighter has suffered from inactivity of late, only defending his WBA Super World Light-Heavyweight Title against Craig Richards on 5th May 2021 after an 18-month period of inactivity. Being a Matchroom fighter himself, this fight would be easy to make for Eddie Hearn to make and definitely show whether he is big time and ready for the level.
Another very intriguing fight would be a domestic battle that has been talked about for a while. Callum Johnson has fought at world level, losing to the weight division’s top dog, Artur Beterbiev. With Johnson seeking another title fight and Buatsi ranked highly amongst all the governing bodies, this fight will no doubt see whoever wins be in the title fight picture.
Lyndon Arthur, a Queensbury fighter under Frank Warren, would be another great domestic battle. Coming through, in his last outing against Queensbury golden boy Anthony Yarde, Arthur definitely proved he is not a fighter to be taken lightly of. With Arthur ranked at number 1 in the WBO, this fight can be made as a title eliminator, with the winner becoming mandatory for WBO Champion Joe Smith Jr.
Matchroom fighter Craig Richards would be a fight that would also be a definite step up for Joshua Buatsi. Recently losing a points decision to Dmitry Bivol, Richards showed he has the quality to do it with the big boys and would definitely be looking to get right back into that title picture.
In short, Joshua Buatsi needs to stay busy more than anything but he needs to stay busy with fights that are at world level, eliminators and minor title fights need to happen for a fighter that is at the beginning of his prime and wanting to become the next Great British Boxer.
