Wednesday 17 August 2016 00:04, UK
World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has been impressed by the impact of Team GB's Olympic boxing sensation Joshua Buatsi in Rio.
The 23-year-old has won hordes of fans - including ring legend Floyd Mayweather - with a pair of brutal stoppages on his way to tonight's light-heavyweight semi-final, in which he faces experienced Kazakh Adilbek Niyazymbetov.
Now, WBA 'Super' and WBO heavyweight kingpin Fury has revealed he sees Buatsi as the undisputed star of an otherwise underwhelming boxing spectacle.
Fury (25-0-KO18) told Sky Sports: "I'm looking forward to watching both Joshua Buatsi and [super-heavyweight hopeful] Joe Joyce.
"I wasn't impressed with Joyce's last performance. He got the job done but to be any good as a heavyweight you've got to be able to jab and move and box and he doesn't look like he knows how to say it, never mind do it.
"Buatsi would make a good professional. He's a solid all-rounder, to be fair, and he's knocked out a pair of two-time Olympians, so he must be tidy mustn't he?
"Buatsi's a big lad, isn't he? A big and strong lad. He looks the part and can punch so that's what you want in the professional game.
If Joe Joyce can win gold, he'll be a big star too. There's not much to beat is there?
"Maybe he'd be a super-middleweight as a professional because he looks a bit small for light-heavyweight. As a professional, though, it's not really about being good - it's about who you've got behind you promoting you. Being able to fight is only 10 per cent of it, I believe.
"If Joe Joyce can win gold, he'll be a big star too. There's not much to beat is there? There's only that big, daft Ivan Dychko bouncing around at 6'9" and the Nigerian Efe Ajagba, who has limited experience.
"The Uzbekistan fighter that Joyce has got was useless. I don't think any of them would do very well as professionals, to be fair.
"I was never interested in the Olympics. I wanted to be world heavyweight champion. There are so many robberies - even Floyd Mayweather and Roy Jones Jr got robbed at the Olympics."
Fury, who turned professional shortly after his 20th birthday in 2008, is due to defend his world titles against former divisional king Wladimir Klitschko in a rematch this autumn.
