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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Matt Majendie

Buatsi vs Stepien: Impatience a virtue for undefeated light-heavyweight contender as world title shot eyed

Joshua Buatsi finally wants his shot at a world title after Saturday night’s fight against Pawel Stepien.

The meeting in Birmingham is a clash between two undefeated fighters, Buatsi having not lost in his 16 professional fights to date.

After a year of inactivity following his change of promoters for this fight, the 30-year-old said he was becoming increasingly impatient to make his mark on the world stage.

“We want the belt,” he said ahead of the light-heavyweight bout. “The aim is to have something tangible in the form of a world title. The message is simple, we’re ready.

“First and foremost, I have to win. We’ll get that out the way, but the message has been clear. As I’ve said, let’s put a poll up, let the public pick who they want to see me with next and I’ll get it done.”

Buatsi’s last fight dates back to May 21 at London’s O2 Arena, where he won a unanimous decision against Craig Richards. Victory would put Buatsi in contention for a world title shot, but Stepien said he expected to disrupt those ambitions.

“I’m here to win,” said the Pole.

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