Barry McGuigan has offered advice to Joshua Buatsi following a relatively lacklustre return to the ring.
The undefeated light heavyweight marked his BOXXER promotional debut back on Sky Sports with a points win over Poland’s Pawel Stepien.
Whilst never in trouble, Buatsi showed a distinct lack of moving up the gears to such an extent that fans in the arena voiced their frustrations and even made for the exits.
Writing in the Mirror, McGuigan reflected on when he first watched Buatsi compared to now.
“When Joshua Buatsi turned pro I thought we were looking at the next British superstar. That’s not quite how it felt last week when the Birmingham audience made their displeasure known during his points win against Pawel Stepien.
This was supposed to be a supercharged return under a new promoter a year after he last fought. It turned out to be nothing of the sort. Buatsi has been in our gym, sparred with Chris Billam-Smith. I thought he had everything. I don’t understand what has happened.”
The Hall of Famer went on to identify a lack of urgency in Buatsi’s game.
“But I do know this; unless he finds the answer he might never fulfil the potential that took him to Olympic bronze in Rio.
Buatsi has a chin like granite, a great punch, he’s languid and loose, he can stand and trade or hit and move. But the urgency is missing.”
He used himself as an example of grit and determination, and warned the 30-year-old that continuing to lack in that department is not an option against the division’s top names.
“I’m an example of a fighter who made the most of what he had. I didn’t have Buatsi’s talent. If I’d been blessed with his gifts no-one would have beaten me.
I had to dig deep to prosper. Buatsi doesn’t seem to know how to do that. He has to ask himself if he is working hard enough. If not he might as well do something else. There are too many good fighters at light heavyweight.
At the highest level you have to make things happen, to inject pace, to up the ante. Unless you do that you have no chance against the Dimitry Bivols, Callum Smiths and Artur Beterbievs of this parish.”
‘JB’ is expected to return to the ring soon to stay active after a stop-start pro career.
He’s been linked with current British Champion, Dan Azeez, but if it was up to him he would face two-time world title challenger, Anthony Yarde.