Joshua Buatsi vs. Willy Hutchinson II Live Results — A Vacant WBC Belt Comes With a Credibility Test

LIVE: Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson are scheduled to meet tonight at Manchester’s AO Arena in a 12-round rematch for the vacant WBC light-heavyweight championship. No official result had been published by the reviewed live-coverage sources at the time of publication.

Boxing News 24’s live scorecard showed no completed rounds or official verdict. The event is listed for broadcast on DAZN, with Buatsi attempting to repeat his 2024 victory and Hutchinson seeking to reverse the only result that directly connects the two contenders.

The championship became vacant after David Benavidez informed the World Boxing Council that he intended to continue competing at cruiserweight. The WBC initially announced Buatsi–Hutchinson II as an interim-title fight, but BoxingScene reported that Benavidez’s decision elevated the rematch to a contest for the full vacant championship.

That change gives both fighters the greatest opportunity of their professional careers. It also creates a credibility test that will not be settled by the belt alone.

Buatsi enters with a record of 20-1 with 13 knockouts, while Hutchinson is 20-2 with 14 knockouts, according to the WBC and BoxingScene. The WBC’s October 2 ratings placed Buatsi at No. 4 and Hutchinson at No. 7.

The winner will leave Manchester as a world champion. Whether he leaves as the recognized leader of the division will depend on how he wins—and what he does next.

The First Fight Left Hutchinson With a Result to Reverse

Buatsi holds the official advantage after defeating Hutchinson by split decision at Wembley Stadium on September 21, 2024.

According to the WBC’s account, two judges scored the fight for Buatsi by margins of 117-108 and 115-110. The third judge awarded Hutchinson a 113-112 scorecard. Buatsi knocked Hutchinson down in the sixth and ninth rounds, giving him the two clearest moments of the contest.

Those knockdowns matter because they created separation in a fight that otherwise produced radically different interpretations from the judges. A 117-108 card describes a commanding Buatsi victory. A 113-112 card for Hutchinson suggests the Scot did enough work across the remaining rounds to deserve the decision.

Both versions cannot fully describe the same fight.

The official record says Buatsi won, and the two knockdowns provide strong evidence for that conclusion. Hutchinson nevertheless emerged with enough success—and one favorable scorecard—to argue that the rivalry required another answer.

The rematch must provide it.

For Buatsi, another close decision would preserve his superiority on paper without necessarily ending the debate. He needs to show that the knockdowns in the first fight were the product of a repeatable advantage rather than isolated moments that rescued him from a difficult contest.

Hutchinson’s task is even clearer. He cannot allow Buatsi to produce the kind of high-impact sequences that shaped the first result. Winning long stretches of a fight will not be enough if he again concedes the most damaging moments.

The first meeting established that Hutchinson could compete with Buatsi.

Tonight will determine whether he can defeat him.

Buatsi Needs More Than Another Narrow Escape

Buatsi has spent much of his professional career carrying the expectations created by his bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics. BoxingScene described the rematch as perhaps his final opportunity to fulfill that early promise at world-championship level.

At 20-1 with 13 knockouts and ranked No. 4 by the WBC, Buatsi has the stronger official position entering the fight. He already owns a victory over Hutchinson, and his two knockdowns remain the most decisive evidence available from their rivalry.

That does not mean the rematch is simply a formality.

Buatsi must establish control without relying entirely on isolated bursts of power. The first fight showed he could hurt Hutchinson, but it also showed that Hutchinson could recover, continue competing and persuade one judge that he had won enough rounds to take the decision.

A decisive Buatsi victory would settle several questions at once. It would confirm that the first result reflected a genuine competitive advantage, establish him as the clear winner of the rivalry and give his new championship greater immediate credibility.

A second disputed decision would produce the opposite effect.

Buatsi could technically become WBC champion while remaining surrounded by questions about whether he had truly separated himself from Hutchinson. That would leave the new titleholder vulnerable to demands for a third fight and skeptical comparisons with the division’s other leading contenders.

The standard, therefore, cannot be limited to survival.

Buatsi needs to demonstrate that he is the better fighter across the full contest. That could mean another knockdown, a stoppage or a convincing decision in which the judges see essentially the same fight. Whatever the method, clarity would matter almost as much as victory.

Winning the belt would complete one objective.

Winning authority would require more.

Hutchinson Must Correct the Mistakes That Decided the Rivalry

Hutchinson enters with a 20-2 record, 14 knockouts and the WBC’s No. 7 ranking. He also enters with something Buatsi does not have: the opportunity to transform an old defeat into the defining victory of his career.

His case for winning the rematch begins with correcting the two moments that cost him most heavily at Wembley.

Buatsi dropped him in rounds six and nine. Those knockdowns affected the scoring directly, but their importance went beyond the points lost. They gave Buatsi the fight’s most memorable sequences and strengthened the argument that his pressure and power carried greater weight than Hutchinson’s work across other rounds.

Hutchinson must avoid repeating that pattern. He needs to prevent Buatsi from setting his feet comfortably, remain disciplined when exchanges develop and avoid giving away the kind of decisive moments that can override competitive rounds on the scorecards.

The rematch also gives Hutchinson a chance to validate the favorable 113-112 card from the first fight. That score suggested at least one judge saw him controlling enough of the contest to win despite suffering two knockdowns.

If Hutchinson can reproduce that round-winning work without being dropped, the entire calculation changes.

A clear victory would establish that he learned more from the first fight than Buatsi did. It would also make his championship feel earned through correction rather than acquired merely because Benavidez left the division.

Another loss would be more difficult to explain. Hutchinson has already seen where Buatsi’s danger comes from, experienced the consequences and received the rematch he wanted. A second defeat—particularly a decisive one—would close much of the argument left open in 2024.

This is not simply another opportunity for Hutchinson.

It is the opportunity to prove that the first fight was an unfinished lesson rather than an accurate statement of the rivalry.

The Winner Inherits a Title, Not Benavidez’s Standing

The WBC sanctioned this fight for its vacant light-heavyweight championship after Benavidez elected to remain at cruiserweight. That decision opened a championship position, but it did not transfer Benavidez’s divisional standing to either contender.

A vacant belt establishes a new titleholder through procedure. It does not automatically identify the best fighter in a division.

That distinction matters here because Buatsi and Hutchinson entered fight week ranked No. 4 and No. 7 by the WBC. Neither man was the sanctioning body’s top-rated available contender, and both still have broader questions to answer against the strongest opposition available after the rematch.

The performance in Manchester can begin answering them.

A decisive victory would create momentum for the winner and provide a credible foundation for his championship. It would show that he did more than occupy the opening created by Benavidez’s move. He would have settled a legitimate rivalry under world-title pressure.

A narrow or controversial result would leave the hierarchy unsettled. The winner would possess the belt, but calls for another fight—or for an immediate test against a higher-rated contender—would be justified.

The WBC had not confirmed the winner’s mandatory-defense path at the time of publication. No reliable source among those reviewed had published confirmed purse figures for Buatsi or Hutchinson, either. Those details should not be estimated or treated as settled until the sanctioning body, commission, promoter or another authoritative source confirms them.

What is already clear is that the next matchup will matter.

A mandatory defense would test whether the champion can handle an opponent selected by the rankings. A unification would allow him to pursue stronger divisional authority. A third fight would become legitimate if tonight produces another disputed decision.

The belt guarantees the winner a new designation.

Only the next level of opposition can determine how much that designation means.

What the Official Record Shows Before the Opening Bell

BoxingScene recorded Buatsi at 174.9 pounds and Hutchinson at 174.5 pounds during the November 6 weigh-in. Both fighters therefore made the light-heavyweight limit for the biggest contest of their careers.

The verified record entering the rematch is straightforward:

• Buatsi is 20-1 with 13 knockouts and ranked No. 4 by the WBC.
• Hutchinson is 20-2 with 14 knockouts and ranked No. 7 by the WBC.
• Buatsi won their first fight by split decision on September 21, 2024.
• The official scores were 117-108 and 115-110 for Buatsi and 113-112 for Hutchinson.
• Buatsi scored knockdowns in rounds six and nine.
• The rematch is scheduled for 12 rounds at AO Arena in Manchester.
• DAZN is the listed broadcaster.
• No official result had been confirmed at the time of publication.
• No confirmed purse figures were available from the reviewed sources.

Those facts explain both the opportunity and the pressure.

Buatsi has the previous victory but still needs a cleaner statement. Hutchinson has a credible argument that the rivalry was competitive, but he must now convert that argument into an official win.

The vacant championship raises the stakes.

It does not lower the burden of proof.