The World Boxing Association (WBA) has made it official that the WBA No. 1 world ranked light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi will face the WBA No. 2 world ranked light heavyweight Dan “Super” Azeez in the “WBA Light Heavyweight Final Eliminator.”
Buatsi and Azeez have been ranked No. 1 & No. 2 since November 2022.
Boxxer, the promoter of both fighters, will handle the event which is set to take place in England, on August 19.
The winner will become mandatory challenger to the WBA Super champion Dmitry Bivol.
Buatsi (17-0, 13 KOs), who was born in Accra, Ghana, now resides in Croydon, London. He entered contender status after scoring ten consecutive wins by knockout. Buatsi followed that steak with a big unanimous decision win over former world title challenger and then WBA No. 10 ranked Craig Richards on May 21, 2022. In Buatsi’s most recent bout on May 6, he dominated against former Polish Champion and IBF Inter Continental Champion and undefeated Pawel Stepien, winning by unanimous decision.
Azeez (19-0, 13 KOs) from Lewisham, London made his way up the WBA rankings with big wins in the past year. On March 26, 2022, a knockout win over once beaten Reece Cartwright earned Azeez a top ten ranking at No. 6. By his next fight, September 3, 2022 against Shaken Pitters, Azeez was ranked No. 4. He beat Pitters handily which vaulted him to his current ranking of No. 2.