Joshua Buatsi, 24, made a winning start to professional boxing as he defeated Calos Mena with a second round stoppage at the O2 Arena, London on Saturday night.
After gaining a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics 2012, Buatsi entered the paid ranks of boxing and quickly found his feet, never looking in doubt of a win.
The Cuban, Carlos Mena, had a record of 4 wins from 10 fights and though he had the ring experience, Mena was caught out by Buatsi’s left hooks within the first 20 seconds of the fight. Mena went down in the 1st after Buatsi attacked with body shots, but the Cuban was able to get back up.
The 2nd round did not fair well for Mena, as Buatsi knocked him down after just 20 seconds in to the round. A third knockdown by Buatsi called time on the fight as the referee stopped the fight, awarding Joshua Buatsi his first professional win.
Unified Heavyweight Champion, Anthony Joshua MBE, was at ringside for the fight and was impressed with Buatsi’s display.
Whilst speaking to Sky Sports, Joshua said, “He seemed cool as he was walking in tonight, but you never know, even the toughest men get nervous.”
“He handled it well though and was a beast in there with his body shots and uppercuts.”
“It will be nice to see how he deals with the next fight now as he moves forward. I want him to have as many learning fights as possible, once you cross over there is no coming back. A three-year trial period before aiming to become champion in the fourth is a nice target for him.”
“When it comes to his boxing, I won’t be too involved, he has trusted advisers around him for that, but I will help with his lifestyle, try to make his life easier so he can focus in the ring and achieve all of his goals.”
“If he has questions he may want to ask or is after advice, I will help. We want to add commercial value to Joshua Buatsi and want people get behind his journey.”
