Croydon light-heavyweight star Joshua Buatsi makes Stateside switch

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Joshua Buatsi has shifted his base to America so that he can be trained by Virgil Hunter.

The unbeaten Croydon light-heavyweight, 27, has a perfect 13-0 record and ended a 14-month absence from the ring when he halted Marko Calic in October.

Hunter has previously worked with American ring great Andre Ward and Bolton’s former world champion Amir Khan.

Buatsi is set to headline a Matchroom Boxing show in the UK on May 15.

He has made five defences of his WBA International title and won the British belt in March 2019.

“Ward got to the highest level and achieved everything and is someone who operated at my weight,” Buatsi told Sky Sports. “The public haven’t seen how good I can be, or I will be. I want to unlock the potential that I have got.

“This addition to the team will 100 per cent bring the best out of me.

“When Anthony Joshua fought Andy Ruiz Jr in New York, I met Virgil. I said: ‘I’ll come and train with you one day’, in the sense that I would learn some bits and pieces then go back.

“I came out after my last fight, after the swelling went down, in October 2020 for six weeks. It was new to me but I learned so much.

“I went home to assess. I came to the conclusion that it’s something that needs to be added to my game. This is an addition that I needed.”

PHOTO: MATCHROOM BOXING