Former world title challenger Callum Johnson 18-1 (13) doesn’t believe Matchroom Boxing will risk their “Golden Boy” Joshua Buatsi 12-0 (10) against him in what would be a mouth-watering domestic matchup.
Londoner Buatsi, 27, is scheduled to face 33-year-old Croatian Marko Calic 11-0 (6) over 12 rounds at Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, Birmingham on Sunday night.
A win for Buatsi will extend the Olympic bronze medallist’s record to 13 straight wins in the pro ranks and a stoppage will stretch his knockout streak to eight in a row.
Buatsi is ranked in the top 15 in the world at light heavyweight by all four major sanctioning bodies, including number two by the WBA and number three by the IBF.
“Let’s be honest, he is Matchroom’s ‘Golden Boy’, or one of them,” Johnson told Sky Sports.
“He has got bags and bags of talent and he’s potentially going to be a world champion and bring massive fights for Matchroom. It would be stupid for them to take any risks.
“He’s a fighter at the end of the day and he can only fight who is put in front of him. He’s done everything asked of him.
“You can’t take anything away from him, but where his career has stalled, obviously a little bit, but I know all about that myself more than anybody. I feel for him there.”
In his lone career loss Johnson was stopped in four frames by current IBF and WBC 175-pound champion Artur Beterbiev 15-0 (15) in Chicago two years ago, but not before having the fearsome puncher on the canvas himself in the second round.
For a while there were talks of Johnson facing WBA champion Dmitry Bivol 17-0 (11) but the fight never materialised.
“If I was a world champion, or I was ahead [in the rankings], I wouldn’t want to fight me, I’ll be honest, if I didn’t have to,” said Johnson.
“Obviously there’s been talks with Bivol a couple of times, which never materialised. But why would Bivol want to fight me, if he doesn’t have to because I’m probably not the biggest of names.
“I’m well behind him in terms of rankings and things like that, so all I bring to Bivol is problems really.
“As a fighter it is frustrating when you get these opportunities mentioned to you and they don’t materialise. It does frustrate you.”
Johnson was expected to face Igor Mikhalkin for the European title in May before the global coronavirus pandemic scotched that bout.
The 35-year-old from Boston, Lincolnshire is keen to get back in the ring after 19 months on the sidelines following his third-round knockout of Sean Monaghan in New York.
“Personally, I’d like two fights and then Buatsi,” he said. “I think the public deserves us both to be at our very best and it’s only fair that I get a couple of fights before that.
“One thing for sure, he’s going to get a couple of fights in before it. Let’s have it on an even playing field. I genuinely believe the best me beats the best him. Couple of fights and I’ll be ready to go.
“I just think I’ve got what it takes to beat him. He gets hit. He likes to trade shots himself and apart from Beterbiev, I had my moments with him, but there’s not many fighters that can stand and trade with me.
“I can box very well as well, so I just think his style and what he brings, it doesn’t pose me too many threats. I just feel I would get to him and catch him and do him.
“Again, it’s all subjective, it’s all opinions. There’s a lot of people out there that think he’ll beat me and there’s a lot of people that think I’ll beat him. Until that happens, we won’t know anyway.”
 doesn’t believe Matchroom Boxing will risk their “Golden Boy” Joshua Buatsi 12-0 (10) against him in what would be a mouth-watering domestic matchup. ){kind=link}