Joshua Bouazzi ESCAPE Craig Richards with a unanimous decision in a huge eliminator of the WBA title and will now climb the world level after a stunning battle at the O2 Arena … with Dmitry Buffalo potentially next!
- Joshua Bouazzi defeated Craig Richards by unanimous decision on Saturday
- The 29-year-old footballer won with a score of 116-112, 115-113, 115-113
- Now Boazzi will strive to rise to the world level, with Dmitry Bivol potentially being the next
- As for Richards, he will now have to recover from a heavy defeat
By Jeff Powell at the O2 Arena
Posted: 18:41, 21 May 2022 | Updated: 00:05, 22 May 2022
They said it would be the toughest test in Joshua Buaczi’s career to date. So it turned out, and he went through it on a memorable battle night on their doorstep.
Craig Richards made an extremely valiant fist, but Bouazzi won the battle, which will hopefully push him to a fight for the WBA welterweight title, from which Dmitry Bivol surprisingly released Canello Alvarez two weeks earlier.
He did so by a greater margin, according to this correspondent’s calculations – 117-112 – than the narrower results noted by official judges. Still, he was unanimous, which was good with Boazzi, although some of the rounds in this very local derby were closer than the overall verdict suggested.
Joshua Bouazzi (right) defeats Craig Richards (left) by unanimous decision on Saturday
The crown of boxing in South London now rests on Buaci’s head, deservedly so. It may seem like a trifle in the scheme of his high ambitions, but it is won in a battle that every future world champion needs on the way to the top of the most difficult match.
For Bouazzi, this was a risk he had to take, given his unbeatable record, which put him within touch of a world title. But with this opportunity still pending, he was running out of opponents to warm up, and Richards brought with him loyal followers who would help market this battle.
On 02 there was a sensible, enthusiastic participation, even if the Rent-A-Crowd agents were out and about.
Bouacci was so favored by the bookmakers that a brave player jumped on him to knock out in the 23rd minute.
If that had happened, the British Boxing Board would have been required to scrutinize betting patterns. Although the long history and fierce rivalry between these two boys from the neighboring hoods made a secret agreement in some kind of betting, almost as likely as the nearby Thames freezes on this soft May night.
Richards struck a blow. Exercising his agreed right to enter the arena last to make Bouazzi wait in the ring for several long minutes.
Not that Bouacci was cold at first. After weighing Richards, he hit him at the end of the first round. As he did in the second.
The majority of the crowd was behind Richards, but Bouazzi’s speed was against him. Richards urgently needed his early hesitation. He showed enough signs that he was doing this to steal the fifth, but was even overtaken in the sixth before sharing an even seventh.
Then came the monumental eighth, in which Bouazzi was almost pierced by the ropes as they exchanged huge blows.
Although he managed to overcome this war in battle, Richards came in the last three championship rounds and needed a knockout in my book. In the tenth Buatsi was closest to that, although he lost his shield in the middle of the round. Richards gave it his all in the 11th without winning a round and didn’t have enough left to stand in the last round.
It was kind of a risk – but it was worth taking on everyone’s behalf.
Sportsmail’s live blog summary while Joshua Bouazzi defeated Craig Richards on Saturday night.
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