An Injured Dan Azeez Withdraws from Fight with Joshua Buatsi
The October 21 WBA world title light heavyweight eliminator between unbeaten British fighters Joshua Buatsi (17-0, 13 KOs) and Dan “Super” Azeez (20-0, 13 KOs) has been postponed due to an injury suffered by Azeez. According to the British news source Sky Sports, Azeez suffered a nerve injury to his back during his final training session.
DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED
Azeez is distraught that he had to withdraw. The 34-year-old posted the following message on social media to express his frustration:
This was a highly anticipated battle in their home country of Great Britain. The winner would be in line for a world title shot against either WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol or unified 175-pound champion Artur Beterbiev.
Buatsi and Azeez are long-time friends. But when a title fight is on the line, friendships often go out the window. Over the last few days, things became heated between the two warriors with Azeez feeling that Buatsi wasn’t giving him his proper respect.
As of this writing, it’s unknown if the rest of the card will go on as scheduled. The promoter for Azeez and Buatsi, Ben Shalom, said that he would provide details on the card as well as an update on a makeup date for Buatsi versus Azeez.
