Joshua Buatsi wins by unanimous decision against his opponent Pawel Stepien, with a methodical display of boxing.
Buatsi quickly fought behind the jab, generally maintaining position in the centre of the ring, occasionally working to the body of Stepien and using his jabs to setup right hooks to the head.
Buatsi didn’t fight with a great deal of urgency, this match-up was likely a tune-up due to inactivity; it was a clear victory, but will not help to setup matches with the likes of Anthony Yarde, Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev: based on this performance, I think he needs more time to prepare for these match-ups.
Stepien had most of his success in rounds 5 and 8, when Buatsi would hold position with little head-movement or foot-work, Buatsi was able to guard and parry against Stepien’s punches in these exchanges; however, a more advanced opponent would certainly exploit this defensive flaw that Buatsi possesses. Buatsi will need to improve his range-control and head-movement to be more competitive at higher-levels.
