Joshua Buatsi defeats stubborn Ricards Bolotniks in world title eliminator

Joshua Buatsi vs. Ricards Bolotniks

Joshua Buatsi continued his march towards a World Title shot with a stunning 11th round knockout win over Ricards Bolotniks in their WBA Light-Heavyweight World Title Eliminator on the third and final week of Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex live worldwide on DAZN.

Last year’s MTK Global Golden Contract winner represented the biggest test of Buatsi’s career, but the Croydon man passed the test impressively as he maintained his unbeaten record, progressing to 15-0 (13 KOs).

“Most importantly I have to thank God for the victory, different fighters have different things that work for them, I made it clear to you lot that that’s what works for me,” Buatsi told DAZN. “In my changing room I don’t need to hear anything, don’t tell me what I did in camp, tell me Josh is written in the bible. That’s what gears me up when I walk down there, what’s written in the bible.

“I’m grateful man, Bolotniks big credit to him he pushed me. I think he said Josh hasn’t been past seven rounds before so after seven we’ll see. I was there until 11 and landed a good shot. I worked every round, but I want to congratulate him – he’s a good champion.

“When I sat down, I said, ‘Buatsi who told you to empty the tank, you’ve got six left?’ but I’ve worked hard. You see in camp the sparring is hard man, big credit to my sparring partners they know who they are. I do a hard six run then a fresh one gets in so into the second half I said I’ve been here: I’ve done it before I’ve been here many times in camp.

“I’ve got a great team, I’ve got a promoter that believes in me, he’s been pushing for fights like this because he knows I can do it. Tonight, I went out there and showed people I can do it, we just build from here.

“We all make sacrifices, I don’t want to single myself out, everyone sacrifices to be where they want to be in life. For me, yeah, I sacrificed, I’m always away from my family and I truly miss them but most importantly I want to get to the top. I feel like I’m in the right team with the right people, I’ve got a great promoter who gives me the opportunities I need. I’ll keep sacrificing.”

(Kristian von Sponneck)

Subscribe to Fightzone for great weekly boxing – just £4.99 a month (use code ‘boxen247’)

Subscribe to our new YouTube Channel starting soon with the latest boxing news and results, gossip and information from around the world. Just click the video image link below:

For the list of boxing events we will cover live with and with unofficial scorecard (main event), click the following link > Live Boxing Results & Events<