Joshua Buasti knows one member of Dan Azeez’s team very well.
Buatsi, who is going through the final stage of training camp for his February 3 WBA light-heavyweight final eliminator against Dan Azeez, knows a world title shot is on the line.
Mark Gillespie was Buatsi’s amateur coach and with him as a professional for some time. Now he is a part of Azeez’s team. Buatsi, who trains with Virgil Hunter in Hayward, California, told ProBox TV: “My amateur trainer, who was with me for probably my first 10-12 fights, he started to train Azeez as well. He has been training Azeez for maybe two or three years, something like that.”
Buatsi, 17-0 (13 KOs), knows that Gillespie knows him – to a degree. Despite there being no bad blood, it is clear that the all-British fight between Buatsi and Azeez has the fighting pride of London written all over it.
“It is someone that of course I have separated away from, and more so when this fight got made I definitely separated away from,” added Buatsi. “I still said Merry Christmas to him, because he has been with me since I was 15 in the amateurs. That is where the link is, and as far as I am concerned he’s Team Azeez.”
Despite the holiday greeting, the undefeated 30-year-old Buatsi knows what is required of him against the 34-year-old Azeez. This is the former Olympic bronze medallist’s chance to impress the British fight fans.
“I didn’t leave home just to be on a holiday,” he said of training in California. “I understand what I do is bigger than me, I am not the only beneficiary of it.”
