Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson get into a heated altercation, Buatsi Reveals What Sparked Incident

In a tense face off encounter, British light-heavyweight contenders Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson nearly came to blows during a press event on Thursday. The pair are set to square off on the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois undercard at Wembley Stadium on September 21, with the WBO “interim” belt on the line.

Joshua Buatsi

Ahead of their much-anticipated clash, Buatsi and Hutchinson sat down for a face-to-face interview to promote the fight. However, the cameras had barely stopped rolling when tempers flared, with Buatsi, a typically level-headed fighter, grabbing hold of Hutchinson before security intervened.

Willy Hutchinson

Speaking to talkSPORT.com moments after the incident, Buatsi revealed what had sparked the heated altercation. “Stuff was said in the Gloves Are Off, he kept calling me a fool,” said Buatsi. “But, of course, we are being filmed, and it’s in that setting so after it was done I thought ‘Look, once we get off I can ask him what angle it is coming from’ because someone pointing at you and calling you a fool can be quite provoking.”

Buatsi went on to explain that he had addressed the issue with Hutchinson directly after the interview, leading to the physical confrontation. “There are only so many times you can call me a fool for me to keep sitting there and that’s not just Hutchinson, that is any man. I said in the sit-down, I’m going to finish this but just to let you know any more of it and I don’t know it is going to go on.”

The WBO “interim” belt has been placed on the line for the Buatsi-Hutchinson clash, with the winner set to become the mandatory challenger for the upcoming undisputed fight between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev on October 12. A purse bid had initially been called by the WBO to establish terms for Buatsi vs Anthony Yarde, but Yarde was unable to accept the WBO’s call due to a “contractual dispute” with his long-time promoter Queensberry.

After ordering the purse bids on May 29, the WBO set Yarde a 72-hour deadline to confirm whether he would fight Buatsi. The time elapsed without an answer, and so Buatsi vs Hutchinson was ordered instead.