Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport at AO Arena, Manchester

Anthony Yarde was tipped to be here tonight and the man is true to his word. He's just rocked up at ringside!

Yarde has been in the ring with some of the very best in the light-heavyweight division and came so close to a fight with Joshua Buatsi previously.

I'm sure he'll have eyes on the winner here.

This is a real thriller between Jack Rafferty and Hovo Martirosyan as they head into the last two rounds in Manchester in the chief support bout.

Dan George
BBC Sport at Copper Box Arena, London

Image source, BBC Sport

Here is my view of the Copper Box Arena as the chief support make their way to the ring.

The spectators are only in the lower tier tonight and I'd say that right now that lower tier is around 50% full on all four sides.

There are big "Zuffa Boxing" flags across from us and those in attendance make a decent noise for Denzel Bentley as his name is announced.

Carl Frampton
Retired world champion

"It's a really good fight. I think the first fight was very good - Willy was dropped a couple of times in the fight and that cost him. Otherwise, his performance was OK. He's matured a lot since that fight and is in good form.

"Buatsi has maybe just started to look old but the fact the world title is on the line... When he turned professional, everyone thought he was a shoo-in to become world champion and he hasn't achieved it yet. This is the chance, so we may see a level of Buatsi that we haven't seen in a while.

"I think it'll be really competitive but I'm just edging Hutchinson to win on points with the run of form he's on."

Prediction - Hutchinson

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport at AO Arena, Manchester

If anyone thought the build-up around this one was pretty tame and the boxers were being nicey nice, then think again.

Yesterday’s weigh-in had a tension about it. These two have respect for each other but they aren’t the best of friends and, at the end of the day, the WBC light-heavyweight title is up for grabs.

Joshua Buatsi has that quiet confidence about him and also has a win over Willy Hutchinson under his belt.

You wouldn’t know it though with how Hutchinson has handled himself.

Hutchinson was shouting “and the new” yesterday but will it be his or Buatsi’s hand raised?

Good things come to those who wait - or so hopes Chris Billam-Smith.

Tonight, he gets the opportunity to end a 10-year wait for revenge when he shares a ring with Cheavon Clarke in London

The Britons boxed in the final of the 2016 National Championships, with Clarke winning by decision.

Clarke, 35, went on to enjoy a successful amateur career, fighting at both the Commonwealth and Olympic Games, while Billam-Smith had to wait until the professional ranks to flourish.

After entering the professional ranks in 2017, Billam-Smith, 36, won British and European titles before his crowning moment of becoming cruiserweight world champion in 2023.

"It's a message really that it's not where you start, it's how you finish," Billam-Smith told BBC Sport.

"I think that I get to prove the progress I've made over the last 10 years on Saturday night."

Read Dan George's full preview here.

Joshua Buatsi's 2024 win over Willy Hutchinson was supposed to lead to a world title fight in his next bout but it didn't work out that way.

The Briton did land a shot at compatriot Callum Smith and the 'interim' WBO light-heavyweight title in a lucrative clash out in Saudi Arabia in February 2025.

It was a brilliant fight but Buatsi came up short against the Liverpudlian, who took a deserved unanimous victory.

Buatsi spent nine months out of the ring but bounced back in November with a victory over Zach Parker.

It was not a thrilling performance from the Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist but he got back to winning ways and put himself back in the world title mix.

Willy Hutchinson will walk to the ring tonight for the 23rd time as a professional looking to avenge his 2024 defeat by Joshua Buatsi.

The Scotsman had over a year out of the ring following that loss at Wembley Stadium before returning with a stoppage victory against Mark Jeffers in October 2025.

Hutchinson, 28, then looked fantastic as he outboxed the unbeaten Ezra Taylor back in March to put himself right back on course for a world title shot.

Image source, Getty Images

The co-main event is coming up next down in London. It is Denzel Bentley's debut fight with Zuffa Boxing as the British fighter takes on a son of a boxing icon in Shane Mosley Jr.

Bentley, 31, was recently stripped of the WBO middleweight title after refusing a clash with Yoenli Hernandez.

it's not the first issue in Bentley's career. Back in 2024, he was close to becoming a delivery driver.

Having ended 2024 on a high by winning the British middleweight title for a third time and adding the European crown to his collection, Bentley had every reason to believe a world title fight would be next.

Meetings with promoter Queensberry offered Bentley hope until fight cards were announced and promises were broken.

Without a fight purse to rely on, a chance conversation with his cousin almost saw Bentley taking up the role of a delivery driver.

"After a year out, I thought I needed to do something," Bentley told BBC Sport.

"I'm not bad with my money and was able to hold myself up to that point but it was starting to bite. My cousin said download the Amazon app and you can get a zero-hour contract. It was an app where you could check in and see if there was delivery work in your area.

"I downloaded it and signed in but there were no jobs in my area. I remember always refreshing and checking but there were no jobs in my area - that's the only reason I didn't do it."

Read Charlotte Coates' full interview here.

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport at AO Arena, Manchester

Usually in boxing, the rematch goes the same way as the first fight.

We saw Daniel Dubois emphatically beat Fabio Wardley in their heavyweight world title rematch.

Willy Hutchinson talks the game of a confident man, adamant he can earn revenge, but will that transpire in his performance?

It was back in September 2024 when these Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson met before in the ring on the undercard of Daniel Dubois' stunning knockout of Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium.

It was a highly technical bout as two former amateur standouts tussled it out.

Buatsi had his man down once in the sixth and the ninth while the Scotsman was also deducted one point in the 7th for use of the head.

Most felt the Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist was a fairly comfortable winner but it was actually a split decision with one judge scoring it for Hutchinson 113-112 while the other two were 117-108 and 115-110 in favour of the worthy winner.

Buatsi handed Hutchinson his first - and so far only - professional defeat.

More of the same tonight or has Hutchinson improved to get revenge?

Manchester's AO Arena has had various sponsorship names through the years but it was made famous as a boxing venue when known as the Manchester Evening News Arena and Ricky Hatton was packing it out.

'The Hitman' made it his home as he rose through the ranks culminating in his crowning glory against Kostya Tszyu in June 2005 when he won the IBF light-welterweight title by stopping the great champion.

That was one of THE nights at the Manchester venue.

A personal favourite was the night Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg in 2016. The super-bantamweight world title fight wasn't a thrilling bout but the atmosphere in there that evening was electric.

What is your favourite boxing moment at the Manchester Arena?

Let us know in the Get Involved section.

Image source, Getty Images

Dan George
BBC Sport at Copper Box Arena, London

Image source, BBC Sport

Hello and a very good evening from the Copper Box Arena in London.

The last time we saw Chris Billam-Smith fight, it was in a thrilling encounter when he stopped Ryan Rozicki in Bournemouth.

Tonight, he's looking to settle an old amateur rivalry against Cheavon Clarke, who was knocked down twice against Jack Massey before stopping him on that same Bournemouth show in June.

Having watched Zuffa Boxing's UK debut at the start of the summer, they are continuing the trend of rolling out the next fight with no breaks in between.

The Copper Box looks to only have the lower tier open tonight, with a number of people already in their seats.

We've just been sat in the media room here where Conor Benn has made himself comfortable, enjoying some food which tonight was an option between curry or some beef chilli.

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport at AO Arena, Manchester

As someone who lives in Manchester city centre, it's fair to say I've not seen much promotion for this fight - despite it happening in the famous Manchester Arena.

I remember seeing adverts on the side of buses and on bus stops for Daniel Dubois v Fabio Wardley in May but nothing of the sort this week.

There is certainly a buzz in the centre, though, but that might be because of the Christmas market opening yesterday.

Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson are expected to make their ringwalks in Manchester around 22:00 GMT.

While down in London, Chris Billam-Smith and Chev Clarke are also expected to make their ringwalks around 22:00 GMT.

However, we are running ahead in Manchester as the chief support bout between Jack Rafferty and Hovo Martirosyan is under way so we may start a little earlier there.

Hello and welcome to fight night.

We are all set for an action-packed evening with a world title clash in Manchester and an intriguing battle between two former amateur rivals in London.

Our main focus will be on Joshua Buatsi against Willy Hutchinson for the WBC light-heavyweight title up at the AO Arena in Manchester.

But we will also be keeping an eye on Chris Billam-Smith against Chev Clarke, who face each other with bragging rights on the line down at the Copper Box Arena in London.

And you thought all the fireworks were on Bonfire Night!

Image source, Queensberry Promotions