All eyes are on Manchester this weekend as Joshua Buatsi takes on Willy Hutchinson at the AO Arena for the WBC Light Heavyweight World Championship.

The decorated former amateurs last met at Wembley Stadium in September 2024 on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois IBF World Heavyweight Title fight.

Buatsi came out on top in that encounter where he dropped Hutchinson twice on his way to securing a split decision victory, with two judges scoring the contest 117–108 and 115–110 to become WBO interim World Champion.

Since then, both men have been active on the scene. Buatsi lost an enthralling battle to Callum Smith, before returning to winning ways in a hard-fought victory against Zach Parker.

Hutchinson has impressively recorded back-to-back wins against Mark Jeffers and the undefeated Ezra Taylor proving he deserves a seat at the top table.

Yet despite both men returning to winning ways in their previous fights the scars of battle are yet to be seen.

UK boxing journalist Wally Downes Jnr expects sparks to fly from the first bell tomorrow (Saturday, Nov 7).

Downes Jnr, who works for The Sun said:

“I think Hutchison needs to be busy early to bank rounds and maybe benefit from over-thinker Buatsi making a methodical start.

“The wins over Jeffers and Taylor will have boosted Hutchinson’s belief and backing. But none of those fellas are on Buatsi’s level.

“Hutchinson has enjoyed the better in-between period. But Buatsi almost beat Callum Smith and that would have been a career high. I don’t think Hutchinson can really hurt Buatsi, but we’ve seen that Buatsi can hurt and drop Hutchinson.“

Initially, when this rematch was first announced it was for the interim WBC Light Heavyweight strap. 

Since then, the stakes have gone up a notch after champion David Benevidez vacated the full title, meaning the winner of this fight will be crowned the WBC World Light Heavyweight Champion.

Both men were successful amateurs – Buatsi won bronze for Team GB at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the same year Hutchinson was crowned World Youth Amateur boxing champion in 2016.

Now, they are both looking to etch their names into boxing history this weekend.

And whoever holds the green and gold strap above their heads will surely be looking to test themselves against the 175lb pound-for-pound king Dmitry Bivol next.