In September 2024, Hutchinson (20-2, 14 KOs) was dropped twice before losing a split decision to Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs) in a WBO interim light heavyweight title fight.

On November 7, the British rivals meet in a high-stakes rematch. The WBC interim 175-pound title will be on the line when the pair meet at Manchester’s AO Arena.

Hutchinson is ranked No. 7 by The Ring, while Buatsi is positioned at No. 5.

The 28-year-old Scotsman confesses he's never wanted a fight as much as this one.

“No. I wanted this fight. I wanted it for two years,” Hutchinson told The Ring.

“I didn't think he would ever take it again but he's been bullied into taking this fight because where else does he go? If the interim title wasn't on the line he would never fight me but who was he going to fight? There's no one there.

“He's not a superstar, is he? He's just ... done alright.”

Hutchinson has been beaten twice during his professional career. The first was a shocking fifth-round loss to Lennox Clarke in a British super-middleweight title fight in March 2021, and could be put down to the difficulty in making 168 pounds. The loss to Buatsi, however, was simply a case of meeting a man who was better than him on the night.

Hutchinson admits that frustration at not doing himself justice still lingers but insists the defeat hasn’t eaten away at him.

“It's not really. It's never eaten me up at all,” he said.

“It's knowing what I can do and knowing what I should have done to him. It's never that it’s ate me up because he beat me, no. It's what I know I can do and what I can do against him. He's a steady night's work and that is the truth. I said it two years ago, but here we are, second time running up.”

If Hutchinson is prone to instinctive outbursts, Buatsi is a cerebral character who rarely, if ever, gets drawn into saying something he doesn’t want to.

Buatsi has been open in admitting that he had no interest in a potential rematch until the interim WBC belt was added to the mix. The full champion is none other than The Ring's pound-for-pound No. 5 star David Benavidez.

Just minutes before sitting down with The Ring, Hutchinson had spent some time shooting a face-to-face interview with Buatsi.

He has plenty of questions about the 33-year-old Londoner’s level of motivation and ambition but experience has taught him he is unlikely to get any kind of reaction before the first bell rings.

“He’s not even hard to read, I just wouldn't really care how he thinks to be honest. I'm going to be completely honest, I don't know what he's thinking or what he's doing,” Hutchinson said.

“He's 33. He looked terrible in his last couple of fights. Does he feel like he's got much to prove? He's been paid well. Does he really want it anymore? I'm not too sure.”