Хөнгөн хүнд жингийн боксчин Жошуа Буатси өрсөлдөгч Вилли Хатчинсонтой хийсэн өмнөх тулааны өмнөх хэвлэлийн бага хурлын үеэр гарсан маргааны талаар дэлгэрэнгүй ярилаа.
2024 онд болсон анхны тулааны өмнөх нүүр тулах үеэр Жошуа Буатси өрсөлдөгчөө хүзүүдэн авсан нь олон нийтийн анхаарлыг татсан билээ. Тухайн үед өрсөлдөгчийнхөө өдөөн хатгалгад хариу барьсан энэ үйлдлийн талаар Буатси ээж нь сэтгэл дундуур байснаа илэрхийлснийг дурсав. Тэрээр ээжтэйгээ энэ талаар ярилцахдаа боксын рингнээс гадна үүнээс илүү ширүүн нөхцөл байдалтай тулгарч байснаа тайлбарласан ч ээж нь түүний үйлдлийг буруутгасан хэвээр үлджээ. Гэсэн хэдий ч Буатсигийн ээж хүүгийнхээ рингэн дээр өрсөлдөгчөө цохих үйлдлийг нь огтхон ч буруушаадаггүй гэдгийг тамирчин онцолсон байна.
Өнгөрсөн тулаанд Буатси өрсөлдөгчөө нокдаунд оруулж, шүүгчдийн шийдвэрээр ялалт байгуулсан билээ. Тэд удахгүй Манчестер хотын “AO Arena”-д сул байгаа WBC-ийн аваргын бүсний төлөө дахин тулалдахаар төлөвлөж байна. Энэхүү даага нэхэх тулааны өмнө боксчид тус тусын сүүлийн хоёр тулааны амжилтаа харьцуулж байгаа бөгөөд Буатси өөрийн өрсөлдөгч Каллум Смит, Зак Паркер нарын туршлагыг онцлон тэмдэглэжээ.
Буатси өнгөрсөн хугацаанд Каллум Смитээс анхны ялагдлаа хүлээж, Зак Паркерыг оноогоор ялсан амжилттай байна. Тэрээр ялагдлынхаа дараа сэтгэл зүйн хувьд хэрхэн даван туулсан талаараа ярихдаа гэр бүл, шашин шүтлэг болон буяны үйл ажиллагаа нь өөрт нь тусалсныг онцоллоо. Ялангуяа Гана улсад өнчин хүүхдүүд болон боксын спортоор хичээллэгсдэд туслах үйлсээ үргэлжлүүлж байгаа нь түүний амьдралын салшгүй хэсэг гэдгийг тэрээр хэлэв.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
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Before Joshua Buatsi got the chance to punch Willy Hutchinson in the face, he had already grabbed him by the neck.
“My mum rang me, Alex. She wasn’t happy about that,” Buatsi says now, reflecting on a pre-fight face-off that spilled over completely.
It was a surprising sceneahead of the British rivals’ first bout, back in 2024,especially given Buatsi is one of the politest boxers one could wish to meet.
Buatsi, 33, could be forgiven for feeling antagonised by his fellow Briton, as Hutchinson’s words per minute somehow eclipse his punches per round –and both sets of ammo are meant to make you uncomfortable. Yet when Buatsi grabbed his former sparring partner by the neck, some wondered whether the lack of composure would bleed into fight night.
“I’ve always said I have a normal feeling towards him,” Buatsi tells The Independent ahead of Saturday’s rematch. “Everyone I fight, no feeling about it. When we fight for those rounds, it’s a cold feeling, but before and after, I feel normal about him.” And yet? “When I thought Hutchinson overstepped, then I retaliated.
“My dad rang. I can’t remember what he said, but my mum let me know from the beginning she was not happy about that. I said to her like: ‘That’s not a big thing. We’ve been in much, much more hostile situations.’ Not in boxing, but I was like: ‘I grabbed someone by the neck, it’s not a big deal.’ But no, she wasn’t happy.”
She had no problem with her son punching Hutchinson in the face, though? “See, absolutely no problem,” Buatsi laughs.
On that night at Wembley, in the hour before his friend Anthony Joshua suffered a brutal defeat by Daniel Dubois, Buatsi dropped Hutchinson and picked up a points win. It had seemed to settle the grudge, until this summer’s announcement that the light-heavyweights would clash again.
This time, they do so in Manchester, headlining at AO Arena with the vacant WBC belt on the line.
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Since their first fight, Hutchinson has gone 2-0 while Buatsi has gone 1-1. For Buatsi, the first digit was his first loss – a decision against Callum Smith last year, in a fight of the year contender; the latter result was a narrow win over Zach Parker, 12 months ago.
“Hutchinson said to look at my last two fights and his last two fights, which is interesting,” Buatsi says. “You can say, ‘Josh, you lost one and didn’t look good in the other one.’ That’s true, but the two guys he fought [Ezra Taylor and Mark Jeffers] are not as experienced as the two guys I fought. One [Smith] is a unified champion at super-middle, and he’s moved up and he’s big at the weight and is very, very experienced.”
Regardless, fans are split on this rematch. A healthy contingent backs Buatsi to produce the win again, but a sizeable portion believes Hutchinson, 28, has growth and momentum on his side.
“I don’t feel disrespected by it at all,” Buatsi insists. “It depends what you’re tuning in. If you’re online, trying to keep up with the comments, of course you’re going to be disheartened and feel disrespected. But I don’t do that, to be honest with you. With all the wins and achievements… I don’t do that, man. So, after a bad day in the office, I don’t know what’s being said.
“Someone might say: ‘Oh, Alex said you fought crap…’” I didn’t, I reassure Buatsi. “Alright, cool,” he laughs, “but I’m not going online to see what you said.”
Buatsi reflects on the Smith loss as a lesson and, unsurprisingly, his key takeaway was how tough he can be when needed. “I’d like to say I showed courage,” he says. He might have visited some “dark places” in the fight, but he avoided one in the aftermath thanks to family, faith, and charity work – all of which he says “healed me a lot”.
He cites his charity work in particular, saying: “The promises I made for if I had won, I still kept, because after you lose, you can be like: ‘Oh, forget that. I don’t want to do it.’ But no, I put myself last and said, ‘Look, we’re going to go even the extra mile, because charity is not about me, it’s about the people.’ First and foremost, it’s a lifestyle.
“There’s two things we’re doing in Ghana, for example,” he says, referencing his roots. “There’s the boxing community. I box, sit, run, train, eat with them, just to let them know that I’m a real person; you’re not just going to read about me online and hear that I’m from Ghana but you’ve never seen me. No, interact with me, ask me questions. I can share my experiences, you can share yours, when needed I can maybe give one or two bits of advice.
“And the orphans, it’s like… damn. We know our parents; once you know your mum and dad, I think you’re good. [But] they’ve been abandoned from young. We’re just trying to provide for them and make them feel loved – they have a roof over their head, they eat. Sometimes people try to complicate it, but it’s like: no, someone in need, feed them.”
Boxing allows Buatsi to put food in mouths, so on Saturday, he will put gloves in Hutchinson’s face. Hopefully there will be hands around necks.
