The vacant WBC light heavyweight title will be on the line when Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs) and Hutchinson (20-2, 14 KOs) meet in a rematch at Manchester’s AO Arena. DAZN will stream the action.

The Ring champion, Dmitry Bivol, holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles and is deep into preparations for his December 12 title defense against the WBO’s mandatory challenger, Callum Smith.

The winner of that fight will start 2027 with a clear diary and may be interested in a fight for the undisputed title.

A title defence against London’s three-time world title challenger, Anthony Yarde, would still be a major attraction and Warren has openly stated that he would happily match either man with Ben Whittaker.

“To go down in the record books as being a world champion, that means a lot. But also, the money does mean something. If you've got the belt, you've got currency. You get involved in the big fights next year, you get involved in the unifications and that's what they're looking for,” Warren told talkSPORT.

“That's what the winner's looking for and they're at the stage of their careers where this is like a make or break fight.”

In September 2024 Buatsi beat Hutchinson by split-decision to win the WBO interim title.

Buatsi dropped Hutchinson twice along the way and although he had a nervous wait as the scorecards were announced, most observers felt that Buatsi handled the unpredictable Scotsman relatively comfortably.

Since then, the two have enjoyed differing fortunes.

Buatsi lost the WBO interim title to Callum Smith after a brutal 12-round war and then boxed his way to a razor-close, unconvincing majority decision win over Zach Parker.

Hutchinson enjoyed a straightforward stoppage of Mark Jeffers and then eased his way to a one-sided win over Ezra Taylor.

Hutchinson goes into this weekend’s return as a very slight betting favorite but Warren believes that previous form will count for little once the first bell rings.

“He is more mature but I think they've both come on a bit but you know what you're going to do with this? You're going to tear up the form book,” he said.

“We know what they've done in the last few years. The fact the belt is on the line makes it something extra, extra special and brings so much to it because as I said earlier on, it's what it leads to. It cements their legacy. It cements their future, hopefully their family's future. That's what is going to happen for the winner.”