Joshua Buatsi fight postponed as Dan Azeez suffers trapped nerve
The light heavyweight eliminator bout was scheduled for this Saturday but will no be held at a later date as Dan Azeez suffers back trouble.
Joshua Buatsi is the top ranked contender for Dmitry Bivol’s WBA light heavyweight title. Dan Azeez is number two in line. This Saturday October 21, the two were scheduled to face off in one of the most anticipated fights of the autumn, with the winner coming away as the clear contender to become Bivol’s mandatory.
But fans will have to wait to see the bout, with doctors ruling out participation by Azeez due to suffering a trapped nerve in his back during his final training session.
“I’m devastated for this to happen on fight week,” Azeez said in a statement. “It still hasn’t sunk in. I’ve never had to withdraw from a fight in my career before. I want to apologise to all the fans, especially those travelling to the fight. I am also extremely sorry to my opponent Joshua Buatsi, to my promoter and to everyone involved who has worked so hard on this date. I hope this fight can be rescheduled as soon as possible.”
Due to be televised by Sky Sports and NBC’s Peacock, the fight night will go ahead confirmed BOXXER founder and CEO Ben Shalom. “I know that Dan would do anything to be in the ring on Saturday night and for this to happen at this stage is devastating,” said Shalom. “However, the health and safety of our fighters must come first.
“My heart goes out to Dan and Joshua, who have both completed tough camps, and to the fans, with more than 10,000 having made arrangements to come on Saturday. We will provide an update on the rest of the card and communicate a revised date for Buatsi-Azeez as soon as possible.”
Tickets to Buatsi-Azeez will remain valid for the new date.