The first fight took place on the undercard of Dubois' stunning stoppage win over Joshua to retain his IBF heavyweight title at Wembley Stadium in September 2025.

Buatsi and Hutchinson set the tone for a fine night of boxing at the national stadium - meeting in the middle and refusing to take a step back.

Hutchinson started strongly but suffered a cut to the side of his right eye following a clash of heads in the fifth round.

Buatsi scored his first of two knockdowns in round six, landing a clean right, before Hutchinson was deducted a point in the seventh for use of the head.

Trailing on the scorecards, Hutchinson threw caution to the wind but went down again in the ninth following a body shot.

Hutchinson beat the count and made it to the final bell with one judge scoring it 113-112 in his favour, but the other two judges' cards read 117–108 and 115–110 for Buatsi.

Buatsi landed 264 of the 600 punches he threw, with 191 of 380 power punches finding their target.

Hutchinson had a slightly lower output with 209 of 566 punches landing and 157 of his attempted 385 power punches connecting.

Billam-Smith and Clarke first met as amateurs in 2016 with the latter coming out on top in the ABA Championships final.

Jamaican-born Briton Clarke went on to enjoy further success as an amateur, winning a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships and claiming bronze at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Clarke, 35, also represented Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but did not take home a medal and turned professional in 2022.

He won his first 10 professional contests, stopping seven opponents along the way, and earning the British cruiserweight title, but fell to his first loss against Leonardo Mosquea in 2024.

Clarke lost the British title in his next bout when he ended up on the wrong side of a decision against Viddal Riley.

Back-to-back victories have breathed new life into Clarke's career since, taking his record to 12 wins and two defeats, but Billam-Smith looks set to pose a stern test.

Billam-Smith also has two losses on his professional record - winning 22 of his 24 contests - but has competed at a higher level.

The 36-year-old reigned as European and Commonwealth champion before beating Lawrence Okolie to become WBO cruiserweight world champion in 2023.

He made two successful defences, including victory over Richard Riakporhe - who he had lost to in 2019 - but lost the title to Gilberto Ramirez when attempting to unify in 2024.

Billam-Smith, who has ambitions to return to world level, has won his last two fights.

Source: BBC Sport

At a glance

Topic
Sports
Country
πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ GB
Publisher language
EN
Added to Allnira