Joshua Buatsi suffers hand injury Maxim Vlasov match without card 2 Chisora vs Parker December 18 Boxing News 24
Via Scott Gilfoid: Joshua Buatsi suffered an arm injury and withdrew from the fight with Maxim Vlasov in the Joseph Parker vs. Dereck Chisora II on December 18 at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, on DAZN.
So far, nothing has been said about Buatsi’s medical scan is being done to prove the injury for boxing fans who are skeptical on social networks. As with Dillian Whyte’s shoulder injury, the CT scans have not been shown to the public. It would be nice to see them.
Buatsi (15-0, 13 KOs) vs Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs) has been seen as the main support for the Parker-Chisora 2 rematch and by far the best fight on the whole card, including the main event.
Card Parker vs. Chisora II looks barren
With 28-year-old Buatsi now card-free, it leaves a huge hole that is difficult to fill if Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn even tries. Here is the Parker-Chisora 2 skeleton below:
- Carlos Gongora vs Lerrone Richards
- Zelfa Barrett vs. Bruno Tarimo
- Lee McGregor vs Narek Abgaryan
- Jack Cullen and Emre Cukur
That’s a pretty barren card if you ask me. I don’t want to say it, but now is a good time for Hearn to add the battle between Dave Allen and Alen Babic to the December 18 card. I doubt Hearn will, as he could have saved. Allen-Babic fight for the title of one of his DAZN shows.
Is it just a coincidence that Buatsi was injured while preparing to fight his opponent with his first living body? Many boxing fans feel that Buatsi vs Vlasov is a 50-50 fight, and it seems odd that JB got injured before this risky skirmish.
“Due to @boxingbuatsi hand injury during training camp, #BuatsiVlasov doesn’t have tag #ParkerChisora2. We wish JB well on his road to recovery 👊,” Matchroom Boxing shared on Twitter.
Will Buatsi reschedule with Vlasov?
The bad news about Buatsi’s injury is that it didn’t just deflate Parker vs. Chisora II but also leaves JB likely to need tweaking when he returns to the ring in 2022.
So, instead of Buatsi vs Vlasov being rescheduled, we’ll likely see JB have a warm-up to take down nets when he returns to the ring next year. That’s predictable at this point, isn’t it?
We have seen with Dillian Whyte that he is not interested in scheduling a match against Otto Wallin following his recent shoulder injury. Will we see the same thing with Buatsi choose not to reschedule with Vlasov?
Buatsi looked very vulnerable in his final game against the Ricards Bolotnicks last August in the affluent upscale Brentwood neighborhood at Matchroom Fight in the UK. It was a 175-lb WBA title remover.
Before that unequal match, Buatisi beat Daniel Blenda Dos Santos by a fourth-round knockout last May.
Vlasov, 35, was on the verge of a decisive 12th round majority loss to Joe Smith last April in the fight for the vacant WBO lightweight belt.
Vlasov gave Smith Jr as much difficulty as he could handle in that skirmish, and some felt he deserved the win. That version of Vlasov would have had a great chance of beating Buatsi, which is why JB’s withdrawal from the fight was a huge disappointment.
Fans will finally get a chance to see Buatsi face-to-face for the first time in his 4-year professional career, but it has now been ruled out due to his injury. Hopefully Buatsi doesn’t get cold feet and retreats as he lost his nerve after realizing what he had to face with the talented Vlasov.
