Willy Hutchinson landed a career-best win at the perfect time.

The WBO Championship Committee approved a request for the rising contender to challenge Joshua Buatsi for its interim light heavyweight title. A ten-day negotiation period was ordered on Sunday for the two sides to work out terms and avoid a purse bid hearing.

Hutchinson (18-1, 13 knockouts) entered the picture just one day after his June 1 victory over Craig Richards in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It came as the time period elapsed without a response as to whether England’s Anthony Yarde (25-3, 24 KOs), The Ring’s No. 4-rated light heavyweight, would commit to a fight versus Buatsi.

“On May 29, 2024, this Committee issued a purse bid order for the Buatsi/Yarde Interim Light Heavyweight Championship Contest,” WBO Championship Committee Luis Batista-Salas stated in a ruling obtained by The Ring. “The Committee outlined specific provisions, most notably granting Anthony Yarde 72 hours upon issuance of the order to personally manifest in writing to the WBO as to whether he would participate in the interim championship.

“The foregoing condition stated that failure to comply thereto would result in this Committee determining that Anthony Yarde is uninterested, and therefore, unavailable to fight. Consequently, the WBO World Championship Committee would recommend to the Ratings Committee his exclusion from the Light Heavyweight Ratings in accordance with our rules and regulations. Having the time granted to Anthony Yarde elapsed without formal communication, this Committee HEREBY rules that he’s uninterested and unavailable to proceed with the fight against Joshua Buatsi as ordered.”

Buatsi (18-0, 13 KOs), No. 3 at 175, is represented by BOXXER. Hutchinson is promoted by Queensberry.

Established promotional rights was a point of contention in the ordered round of talks between Buatsi and Yarde. Queensberry was listed as the promoter of record, despite Yarde’s contention that he was a free agent.

That distinction, in fact, was the direct cause in the delay in getting this fight over the line earlier this year.

There is no such concern in the most recent ordered round of negotiations. Hutchinson proudly represented Queensberry in the company’s celebrated 5-vs-5 tournament with Matchroom Boxing. His win over Richards kicked off the competition and paved the way for a clean sweep.

It marked the fifth straight victory for Hutchinson, who will now head into a secondary title fight.

Buatsi was previously on course to challenge for the WBA title. However, the entire division is stuck in a holding pattern.

Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) and Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) will collide on Oct. 12 for the undisputed championship. The summit meeting between the top two light heavyweights comes with every light heavyweight title at stake. Beterbiev No. 1, is the WBC, IBF and WBO champ. Bivol No. 2, has held the WBA title since 2017.

Their meeting was due to take place on June 1. However, the fight was delayed by four months when Beterbiev suffered a torn meniscus during training camp. His injury was grounds for the WBO to grant an interim title fight. The winner to become Beterbiev’s mandatory challenger.

It was the perfect opportunity at the time for Buatsi and Yarde to renew talks. The pairing was previously eyed for a June 15 show that BOXXER planned to stack as a blockbuster event. The show has moved on without this bout, which is officially dead—for now, at least.

Buatsi is also the WBA mandatory and was willing to risk his ranking for the sake of activity. A fight with Yarde was eyed even before he defeated Dan Azeez in a Feb. 3 WBA title eliminator in London.

There was hope for the fight when Buatsi’s side was in agreement to the proposed terms. Hall of Fame promoter and Queensberry founder Frank Warren, Yarde’s promoter, was pleased with the progress in negotiations as well.

However, Yarde threw a wrench into everyone’s plans after he claimed to be a promotional free agent. It created a standoff with Warren, who insists the two-time title challenger is still under contract.

Yarde continues to insist otherwise, an issue raised by the WBO in replacing the former title challenger with Hutchinson. An extension was requested by BOXXER’s Ben Shalom on June 1 to instead negotiate directly with Yarde. Queensberry’s Andy Ayling contacted the WBO one day later to successfully plead the case for Hutchinson.

Buatsi has emerged as a top contender, though activity has been an issue. He fought just once each in 2022 and 2023, the latter which saw Buatsi sign with BOXXER after he split from Matchroom. This ruling should keep his career moving with the emergence of a willing challenger.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox

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