Joshua Buatsi's journey towards world title contendership continues in chief support to the anticipated unification main event between Terri Harper and Hyun-Mi Choi on May 15 in Manchester, as he takes on Frenchman Daniel Blenda Dos Santos for the WBA International light-heavyweight title.
The explosive British contender stopped Marko Calic in October to continue his destructive rise up the rankings and has since travelled to America to team up with new trainer Virgil Hunter, who guided the career of pound-for-pound star Andre Ward inside the very same weight class.
France's Dos Santos is undefeated in 15 fights, with eight of his wins coming inside the distance, and the 30-year-old from Pont-Sainte-Maxence has been more active than Buatsi in recent months, fighting twice in 2021 and earning a first-round stoppage last time out.
"I've got an unbeaten opponent, that makes him ambitious," said Buatsi. "Obviously it's the first fight under Virgil, so it's should be interesting.
"I'm looking forward to showing what I've been working on with Virgil. He's going to want to hold onto his undefeated record, as I am. When that's at stake you really dig deep.
"It's mainly the style that I like. Each of his fighters translate it differently. The public haven't seen how good I can be, or I will be. I want to unlock the potential that I have got. This addition to the team will 100 per cent bring the best out of me."
Buatsi vs. Dos Santos is part of a big night of boxing in at the AO Arena in Manchester, which recently also hosted the Derek Chisora vs. Joseph Parker card.
Harper (11-0-1, 6 KOs) attempts to add Choi's (18-0-1, 4 KOs) WBA title to her WBC and IBO belts at 130lbs in the main event, there is also a triple-header of European title fights.
Gamal Yafai (18-1, 10 KOs) defends his super-bantamweight title for the first time against Jason Cunningham (28-6, 6 KOs); Tommy McCarthy (17-2, 18 KOs) defending his cruiserweight crown against Romania’s Alexandru Jur (19-4, 7 KOs) and Lerrone Richards (14-0, 3 KOs) taking on Italy’s Giovanni De Carolis (28-9-1, 13 KOs) for the vacant super-middleweight strap.
Also on the show Dalton Smith (7-0, 6 KOs) takes on Lee Appleyard (16-5-1, 5 KOs) for the vacant English super-lightweight title after their February clash fell through at short notice.
The card airs on Sky Sports in the UK, and on DAZN almost everywhere else across the globe. Check out DAZN.com for more information.