Joshua Buatsi on Dan Azeez: ‘Even a good mate will try to hurt you’

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy “Just imagine you’re fighting your mate – a good mate of yours,” Joshua Buatsi instructs The Independent over the phone. “Imagine it’s at a big arena, the lights are bright, it’s on national TV, you have small gloves on, and they’re trying to hurt you.” This would be the moral dilemma that Buatsi would be facing on Saturday, if only he saw any dilemma in punching his friend Dan Azeez in the face. “Of course, as you can imagine, I’m not gonna be texting or calling him every day – or asking him for sparring, funnily enough,” laughs Buatsi, the taller, rangier fighter in this bout. “Funnily enough, when I was turning pro, it was something I always said upfront: ‘Look, I’ve also been to uni, I’ve got a degree.’ It was something that stood me out among all my peers.” On Saturday, Buatsi will stand across from the peer he knows better than all others.