Boxing news: Joshua Buatsi calls out Anthony Yarde ‘I would take that fight right now’

Buatsi, 6-0 (4 KOs), is regarded as one of the most promising prospects in British boxing, having turned professional little under a year ago with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.

The 25-year-old secured a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and is managed by fellow Olympic medallist and current reigning unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Speaking to Sky Sports Boxing this week, Buatsi hinted at his frustration in trying to find opponents capable of presenting a challenge in the early stage of his career.

One possible avenue Buatsi suggested he would be willing to explore would pit him against fellow Londoner Yarde, 15-0 (14 KOs), in a marquee domestic clash this year.

“It’s always going to interest me. Even at this stage, I think if they said: ‘Buatsi, listen. We want to make a big fight happen for you’, I wouldn’t turn it down,” Buatsi said.

“We do all these things in the gym and ultimately you have to be tested. I wanted to ask myself: ‘Can I fight? Do I think I’m a good fighter? Can I do this, can I do that?’

“In the little stages that I’m doing it at, it’s all good. But at a big stage where you’d be the main event, you’d be headlining, the public is interested. It’s something that I would take.

“I would love to be in that position to say ‘Do you know what, everyone is out here in London. The world is watching, the nation is watching. Who is better Buatsi or Yarde?’ Round one the bell goes.

“I’m imagining it, and it is something I would take right now.

“If it was presented to me at the O2 as a headline event, I would take it.

"These are the match-ups you need in boxing. Ultimately, we will only know what happens once we fight, but all I will say is that the ring reveals the truth - it's very real and different once you're in there, just the two of you.

"Buatsi is coming for you."