In that September 2024 meeting with Buatsi, Hutchinson was dropped twice (rounds 6 and 9). While one judge in some way found a option to give it to him 113-112, the opposite two saw a much clearer picture at 117-108 and 115-110. He showed heart to complete, but he was physically handled for giant portions of that fight.
“Buatsi, I’ll make absolute easy work of him,” Hutchinson said to talkSport Boxing. “I’m telling you. I’ll say it again.”
Hutchinson viewed his most up-to-date performance, beating Taylor, as an announcement to the general public. While fans are beginning to take notice of his rise, Hutchinson claims he has been at this level for years, waiting for the world to catch up.
“These doors was open an extended time ago, but some reason everyone’s just seeing it now,” he said.
He added that he never needed to get out of second gear in his latest outing, claiming he controlled the fight throughout and will have done more if required.
“I boxed 10 rounds with my hands down, and the person couldn’t hit me. I used to be just having fun.”
By calling for Buatsi immediately, Hutchinson is bypassing “secure” options. He doesn’t see a rematch as a big gamble. As a substitute, he views it as a needed correction to his record.
This aggressive stance puts the ball firmly in Buatsi’s court. With Hutchinson claiming he’s operating on a unique plane, the boxing world is watching to see if Buatsi is willing to run it back and settle the rating once and for all.
The version of Buatsi we’ve seen over the past yr looks much more vulnerable than the one which beat Hutchinson. Buatsi took a sustained beating in his first pro loss in a fight against Callum Smith in February 2025. Smith’s power and precision appeared to take something out of him, and he lacked his usual sharpness.
In Buatsi’s last fight against Zach Parker in November 2025, which he won by a 10-round decision, he looked like he’d lost something from his game.
Many fans and pundits felt Parker did enough to win, and the bulk decision for Buatsi was met with heavy boos in Manchester. Buatsi looked sluggish and struggled with Parker’s movement. Three straight 10-12 round wars against Smith, Parker, and Hutchinson is plenty of mileage in 18 months.
Hutchinson’s biggest advantage now’s momentum and freshness. Since losing to Buatsi, he’s picked up a TKO win over Mark Jeffers and just cruised past Ezra Taylor without getting out of second gear.
While Buatsi has been embroiled in controversial decisions and physical wars, Hutchinson has been refining his game and staying relatively untouched. In the event that they fight again in late 2026, Hutchinson is likely to be catching a “faded” version of the person who dropped him twice.
