British Rivals Collide Before Yarde

Joshua Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs) and Zach Parker (26-1, 18 KOs) battle it out in a 10-round fight for the WBO International light heavyweight title this Saturday, November 1, on DAZN at the Co-op Live Arena, Manchester, England. The event starts at 3:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm PT.

(Credit: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)

The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Buatsi, 32, is looking to bounce back from a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Callum Smith earlier this year on February 22, 2025, in Riyadh. Buatsi got pulled into a war of attrition against Callum and wore down late in the fight.

That was the second consecutive grueling contest for Buatsi. In his previous bout, he’d been forced to battle hard to defeat  Willy Hutchinson by a 12-round split decision on September 21, 2024, at Wembley Stadium in London. Buatsi was hurt multiple times by the highly motivated younger fighter, Hutchinson, in that fight. What was supposed to be a clear-cut win going in turned out to be a life-and-death struggle for Joshua

Queensberry promoter, Frank Warren, states that the winner of the Buatsi vs. Parker fight could challenge for the title against the victor of the November 22nd fight in Riyadh between WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez and Anthony Yarde.

Complete card

• Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker – 10-round main event
• Brad Rea vs. Lyndon Arthur
• Liam Cameron vs. Troy Jones
• Khaleel Majid vs. David Ryan
• Billy Deniz vs. Eworitse Ezra Arenyeka
• Stephen Clarke vs. Jose Aguirre
• Luke Prior vs. Eduardo Vera Sanchez
• John Tom Varey vs. Brandon Gallardo Vargas
• Leighton Birchall vs. Wilbert Panttin
• Bradley Casey vs. Antonio Borovina

“There are brilliant fights to be made, and there is a big show in Riyadh on November 22, and that main event between Benavidez and Anthony Yarde. Those two guys are in one of the best fights out there, and everybody sitting at this table is looking at that, all eyes are on it,” said promoter Frank Warren to DAZN Boxing about the winner of this Saturday’s clash between Buatsi and Parker wanting to face whoever emerges victorious in the November 22nd bout between David Benavidez and Anthony Yarde.

Benavidez is hoping for a bigger fight next than facing the Buatsi-Parker winner. ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez wants to face IBF, WBA, and WBO light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed championship. If not him, he’d like to face Artur Beterbiev.

Buatsi lost a lot of the hype behind his career after the way he performed against Hutchinson and Smith. Those two fights showed that Buatsi gets hit too easily, and his punch resistance is not as good as it needs to be for him to compete at the highest levels. If he doesn’t make dramatic improvements in this area against Parker on Saturday, it’s not going to look for him against the Benavidez-Yarde winner if he does face them next.

“They are looking towards that because they are jockeying for positions to challenge the winner of that fight. That is what makes it so exciting,” said Warren.

“We’ve got Joshua Buatsi, who has just signed with Queensberry, fighting Zach Parker, who has been with Queensberry for a long, long time now.”

Parker, 31, has won his last four fights since losing to John Ryder by a fourth-round injury stoppage on November 26, 2022. Zach suffered a broken right hand in that fight, which forced the contest to be halted.