Joshua Buatsi thought he would have been a world champion long before now.

When he returned home from the Rio Olympics with a bronze medal in 2016, he was backed to be one of the first from the Team GB squad to claim world honours. But a decade later, after watching several of his former Olympic teammates reach the summit before him, Buatsi is finally preparing for the opportunity he has spent his professional career chasing.

The journey has not been quite what he expected.

“It's been a marathon, whereas I thought it was going to be a sprint at the beginning,” Buatsi told BoxingScene. “For example, so are the rounds, because in the amateurs it's a sprint. Three rounds you're in, you're out. 10, 12 rounders, it's long. Do you know what I mean?

“But no, it's been good. I think I can always sit down and look at bad bits of things and dwell on that, but I always say to people, how you view things, it has a big effect. So if I'm sitting here and I've won 20 out of 21 and fighting for the world title fight, what do I have to complain about? Nothing.”

For years, Buatsi was considered one of Britain's brightest prospects, but his progression towards a world title was slower than anticipated. Fellow members of the 2016 British Olympic team, including Lawrence Okolie, Josh Kelly and Joe Cordina, had already claimed world championships while Buatsi continued to develop.

Buatsi, 20-1 (13 KOs), will finally get his chance when he faces Willy Hutchinson for the vacant WBC light heavyweight title on Saturday at Manchester, England’s Co-op LIVE.

Now 33, Buatsi acknowledges that things could have happened sooner, but believes the timing may ultimately prove to be right.

“The timing is everything. Could it have come earlier? Probably. Would I have wanted it to have come earlier? Probably. But there's no timing like now, so I feel everything's lined up for how it should be,” the Londoner said.

There were opportunities along the way, including a proposed fight with WBA champion Dmitry Bivol earlier in his career. Buatsi received criticism at the time for turning down the fight, yet he maintains that he made the correct decision.

“Absolutely. It was offered, but what came with it was what I wasn't willing to settle for,” he said. “So to sit here today, absolutely [I made the right call].”

Buatsi's route towards a world championship took another unexpected turn when he suffered his first professional defeat against Callum Smith in 2025. Buatsi handed over his WBO interim strap with the loss, and it seemed as though a world title shot was out of reach.

That was until David Benavidez's move to cruiserweight, leaving the WBC light heavyweight championship vacant and up for grabs.

“When I lost the interim, I thought, ‘Damn, I've lost the interim, so where's this title going to come from?’ So yeah, it's worked out well in that way,” said Buatsi.

Standing between Buatsi and the championship is Hutchinson, whom he defeated unanimously in their first meeting two years ago.

Since then, however, Buatsi has been unable to replicate the performance that made many feel he was ready to fight for world honours. Next came the defeat to Smith – although in a barnburner – and a controversial victory in an awkward fight versus Zach Parker followed.

“I take the win from it," said Buatsi of his bout with Parker. "Obviously, we can talk about all the things we want to talk about, but when you're doing a record, it's going to be like, 'Oh yeah, he won.' Even if it was by one point or half a point, I won. And that's all that matters in this game.”

Hutchinson seems to be taking encouragement from watching Buatsi's difficulties against Parker.

“Looking back and if you're saying, ‘Oh, this is how he fought in this last fight,’ of course you'll probably feel positive or optimistic from it," said Buatsi.

"But we've been in there before, so he knows.”

There is also another reason for Hutchinson's confidence. He believes Buatsi's punishing 12-round defeat to Smith has taken something out of him and that the fighter he faces this time will not be the same man he encountered two years ago.

“I wouldn't say that. I was in a hard fight, but I wouldn't say that it took it out of me,” Buatsi said of Hutchinson’s claims. 

“And that means that we should say that when he got knocked out by that guy, Lennox Clarke, should we say that that took it out of him? Or when I beat him, did that take it out of him? I can't say stuff like that. He was in a very hard fight against me. I was in a hard fight against him. So no, I wouldn't say that it took it out of me.”

Buatsi, however, admitted that both men are no longer the fighters of two years ago.

Hutchinson, who was dropped twice that night, has had time to reflect on their first meeting and has since recorded two impressive wins over Mark Jeffers and Ezra Taylor.

Buatsi recognises that they both have had time to develop, but believes the improvements he has made since their first encounter will become apparent when they share the ring again.

“Yeah, it was two years ago. A lot could change in two years,” he admitted. “I would have learned a lot and improved, and so would he.

"But I think this one, people will see that actually there's a lot of things that I've worked on that couldn't translate in my last fight, but they'll see it in this one.”