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Eddie Hearn doesn’t want the winner of Joshua Buatsi vs. Willy Hutchinson to get too comfortable holding their world title.
On Saturday night at AO Arena in Manchester, Buatsi and Hutchinson will battle it out for the vacant WBC light heavyweight title in a rematch over two years in the making.
Buatsi dropped Hutchinson on points that night at Wembley Stadium, but should he win this time around he'll get his hands on his very first world championship.
However, Matchroom Boxing chief Hearn, who used to promote Buatsi, is already lining up his current 175-pound starlet Ben Whittaker for a shot at the winner.
“Ben Whittaker is looking to fight probably in February or March time,” Hearn told iFL TV. “He loves the winner of that fight. If we can get a shot at the winner this weekend, great.”
Whittaker last fought on October 3 in Birmingham and barely broke a sweat for nine rounds of his bout with Connor Wallace, who enjoyed late success and buzzed the hometown favorite in the final round. Whittaker (13-0-1, 9 KOs) won by unanimous decision and after the fight said a rematch would make sense.
Now, approximately one month later, things have changed. Whittaker, 29, is certainly in a position of power. He’s currently ranked No. 1 by both the IBF and WBO. He's also ranked No. 3 by the WBC.
Getting a crack at the Buatsi vs. Hutchinson winner doesn’t seem like a far-fetched idea, but it isn’t Whittaker’s only option. According to Hearn, his talented 175-pounder has a list of names he would like to get it on with.
“We also talked about British guys, whether that’s Lewis Edmundson, Lyndon Arthur, Anthony Yarde, which is a fight that’s at the top of his list; I think it’s a brilliant fight,” Hearn said. “But of course, he wants to fight for the world title.”
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