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Unified world champion Artur Beterbiev could be open to a future fight against the winner of Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez, says Top Rank CEO Bob Arum.
The British light-heavyweight rivals will risk their world title ambitions and unbeaten records in their fight on Saturday night at The O2, live on Sky Sports.
Beterbiev stopped Anthony Yarde in a thrilling battle at Wembley in January, while he takes on another British contender, Callum Smith, in a rescheduled defence of his WBC, IBF and WBO titles in Quebec on January 13.
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Joshua Buatsi and Dan Azeez went head to head in the Sky Sports News studio and shared their predictions for fight night on October 21
If the Canada-based champion extends his explosive unbeaten record, featuring 19 knockouts in 19 wins, then Beterbiev could offer a world title shot to the Buatsi-Azeez winner.
“Since Artur made such a big splash in the UK against Yarde, we would not be opposed to him returning one day in the future,” Arum, who promotes Beterbiev, told Sky Sports.
Azeez has already traded numerous punches with Beterbiev after being brought in for explosive sparring sessions.
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Virgil Hunter is certainly pushing Buatsi past the limit in his preparation to fight Azeez
‘Beterbiev’s power keeps you jittery!’
“The overhands and the bodywork, those little things, there are small little things that Beterbiev does. I don’t think a lot of people give him credit for his actual boxing IQ because obviously he’s knocked out everyone,” Azeez told Sky Sports earlier this year.
“He’s got a very intelligent mind in there.
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Buatsi says his fight against South London friend-come-opponent Azeez is one he simply has to win if he is to stay on track for a shot at a world title
“In sparring as well you’d throw a shot at him and you’d miss by an inch, he’s got very good footwork,” Azeez added. “He might come across like he’s flat-footed but he’s actually got good footwork and he knows how to move around the ring.
“It’s that punching power, it keeps you jittery and makes you expend more energy than you want to because you know if I’m in too close, I could get tagged. If I make a mistake, I could get tagged. So you’re thinking a lot more than you want to, so it’s hard.
“As you see when you watch him, when he throws his shots, it doesn’t look like he puts too much into it. It’s deceiving but there’s power behind it.”
On the Buatsi vs Azeez undercard, Mikael Lawal settles his feud with Isaac Chamberlain in a British cruiserweight title clash, while Louis Green, collides with Sam Gilley in a Commonwealth super-welterweight title showdown and Karris Artingstall takes a step up in class against Canadian champion Vanessa Bradford.
Watch Buatsi vs Azeez on Saturday night at The O2, live on Sky Sports.
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