Willy Hutchinson is taking aiming at Joshua Buatsi and the WBO’s interim light-heavyweight title subsequent.
As Buatsi’s talks with London rival Anthony Yarde stalled, Hutchinson marked himself out with a powerful victory over Craig Richards initially of the month.
With all 4 of the foremost world titles tied up in Artur Beterbiev’s undisputed struggle with Dmitry Bivol in October, the WBO has now mandated Hutchinson because the opponent for an interim title struggle with Buatsi.
The Scot’s supervisor Shelly Finkel instructed Sky Sports activities: “We would very much welcome a fight against Buatsi.”
Ben Shalom, the Londoner’s promoter, expects to finalise Buatsi’s subsequent struggle within the coming days.
“He’s in a great position right now,” Shalom instructed Sky Sports activities. “He is labored exhausting to get to this place and he is received two probably nice fights forward.
“Personally I think the Yarde fight is the one that fans want to see most and it’s one that we’ve been trying to make for a long time. But obviously there’s been difficulties making that fight and it’s taken a bit of time.”
However he added: “You’ve got the Hutchinson fight as well, given the order for the WBO interim. So great options.
“He’ll make his selection. He desires the massive fights, he desires the massive nights, he desires the headline slots, he desires the present for himself so we’ll see what occurs over the subsequent week or so.”
Buatsi is pushing finally for a compulsory shot at one of many belts Beterbiev and Bivol will struggle for later this yr.
“He’s No 1 in most of the governing bodies,” Shalom mentioned. “I think the IBF [mandatory] is next in line then it’s the WBA. He’s No 1, he’s going to get his opportunity.
“I believe it is a ready sport now on Bivol-Beterbiev no matter occurs.
“His fight against Dan Azeez was a final eliminator [for the WBA title]. In the WBC he’s the No 1 as well,” the BOXXER promoter continued.
“He’s got to make the best decisions for the biggest fights for the most amount of money and luckily there’s a couple of options.”
Watch Chris Billam-Smith defend his WBO cruiserweight world title towards Richard Riakporhe at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park, stay on Sky Sports activities on Saturday June 15; or Stream with NOW