Boxing
Wind-up king Willy Hutchinson can join boxing's biggest characters with Joshua Buatsi encounter
Watch Joshua vs. Dubois September 21 live on DAZN
Sport often lives and dies on its big characters. Boxing, in particular, is no exception.
Those personas that are larger-than-life already feel magnified by the cameras and the occasion, a parade of psychodramas amplified to theatrical levels of bravado.
When the fighter can not only talk the talk but walk the walk, the result is dynamite, then and now especially in a world of social media soundbites.
Instant notoriety is easy to explain, but harder to manufacture. Yet Willy Hutchinson, with his own way, will achieve more than that if he brings Joshua Buatsi to his knees.
Ever since the pair's bout was confirmed, when the Scotsman's relentless pitter-patter and rat-a-tat words drove his opponent to try and choke him, there have been sparks.
Hutchinson has reason to feel he can end the Rio 2016 bronze medalist's unbeaten career as a professional. His win over Craig Richards was an intelligent performance.
His own lone loss, to Lennox Clarke three years ago, appears to have spurred him on in pursuit of even greater heights.
But the way he has managed to ruffle Buatsi like few others have, with tales of sparring victories - tales strenuously denied by his opponent - is an act of psychological warfare.
"There is bad blood here"
"Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson just do not like each other," DAZN's Darren Barker noted. "It is not for show, they do not like each other. There is bad blood here.
"I think Hutchinson is quickly becoming the biggest wind-up merchant in boxing. He loves to get under the skin of this opponent.
"Witnessing Hutchinson first-hand, he is a naturally entertaining character, bundles and bundles of personality. I think that side comes naturally to him. He doesn’t have to force it."
Few fights on the Riyadh Season card are a mismatch. Every tussle has the intrigue and drama to be a bonafide smash in its own right, half-a-dozen headline bouts on one bill.
"It is fine margins in boxing"
Hutchinson and Buatsi both know that the stage will never come bigger than this. No matter what they say, there is an altogether different kind of pressure to handle at Wembley.
The former's work out of the ring over these past few weeks walks a thin line. So far, he has mostly lived up to the hype he has built for himself. But he must keep his own cool too.
"It is fine margins in boxing, especially in a fight like this," Barker mused on Wednesday after the public workouts.
"So, if that can give him an advantage, get Buatsi fighting differently because he is emotionally charged then he could gain that extra percent to win."
Boxing lives and dies on its big characters. Deliver the knockout he has promised, and Hutchinson might become one of the biggest of them all.
More on AJ v Dubois
- Joshua vs. Dubois fight guide
- Fight week schedule
- AJ-Dubios fight week live blog
- AJ vs. Daniel Dubois: Behind-the-scenes news and gossip
- Joshua vs. Dubois undercard
- Joshua vs. Dubois: How to watch and pay-per-view prices
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