Joshua Buatsi Must Defeat Azeez In Order To Fight the Winner Of Artur Beterbiev Vs. Dmitry Bivol.

Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev are anticipated to square off in an uncontested match later this year.

On Saturday, February 3, Joshua Buatsi and Dan Azeez will square off at London's OVO Arena at Wembley. 

In the WBA rankings for light-heavyweight contenders, Buatsi(17-0, 13KOs)from Ghana and Azeez(20-0, 13KOs) from England are ranked first and second, respectively, and are both undefeated.

Prior to the fight, during his training session, Buatsi agreed that his fight with Azeez was much more significant because of the impending Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol match for all the major belts.

"It's imperative. I've got good rankings with all the governing bodies so right now at this point I cannot make any mistakes. There's no other way to say it, it's very, very imperative. So we are almost there but we are not there yet," said Buatsi in media reports.

After Azeez hurt his back in his last training session, the bout was rescheduled for February 3 from its original October date.

“Not really because I still know that I have to fight Dan. I know that. Hopefully we cross the line and we do fight. Have my feelings changed? Not necessarily,” said Buatsi in response upon being asked if the fight's dynamic had altered.

“One thing I haven't done is go back to watch the videos. I've seen little titles saying 'oh, Buatsi's a diva' he's this, he's that, but I have no interest in clicking and watching it. After the fight perhaps I might do, but right now we are fighting in less than two weeks,” he added.

Azeez, 34, and Buatsi, 30, will participate in The Gloves Are Off's inaugural live event on February 1.

"It's time to see who's No 1. There's nothing else to do but to fight to see whose hand is going to be raised at the end of it. That's all I've worked for and that's what I'm looking forward to, so there's not much to say. In the next week and a half there's going to be a lot of interviews, a lot of media. I don't know what to say to you guys. We are almost there. Let's make sure the fight happens and then we'll see what's up," said Buatsi