Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez postponed after Azeez suffers pinched nerve

Well, there goes the weekend’s best fight. Sky Sports announced today that Dan Azeez suffered a pinched nerve in his back during his “final training session” for Saturday’s bout with Joshua Buatsi.

Said bout is now postponed, with a new date to be revealed “shortly.” The rest of the show, the first of BOXXER’s new partnership with NBC Sports, will presumably proceed with Isaac Chamberlain vs Mikael Lawal as the new main event.

“I’m devastated for this to happen on fight week,” said Azeez.

“It still hasn’t sunk in. I’ve never had to withdraw from a fight in my career before. I want to apologise to all the fans, especially those travelling to the fight. I am also extremely sorry to my opponent Joshua Buatsi, to my promoter and to everyone involved who has worked so hard on this date. I hope this fight can be rescheduled as soon as possible.”

It’s a tough pill to swallow for everyone involved. This matchup has essentially been in the works since Buatsi (16-0, 13 KO) first joined BOXXER in March and would have put the winner in line to challenge Dmitry Bivol, who doesn’t seem keen on making a voluntary defense anytime soon. Hopefully Azeez can bounce back quickly.