JOSHUA BUATSI has been living the quiet life while training out in America – not even speaking to his neighbour.
The 2016 Olympic bronze medallist moved out to California during the Covid pandemic to work alongside esteemed trainer Virgil Hunter.
Buatsi has hopped around before settling into a place near Hunter’s Hayward gym – where unbeaten great Andre Ward trained out of.
But the amazingly polite yet spiteful punching light-heavyweight is so focussed he hasn’t even said one word to his neighbour yet.
Buatsi, 32, told SunSport: “It’s quite repetitive and boring what we do.
“We try to break it out by going to like different spots and whatnot to eat or to go for a walk or whatever.
“But nah, I’m not someone that you could say, ‘Oh yeah, he’s a local.’ I’ve moved around a lot, but I think where I am now it’s more stationary.
“But also the culture out there is different. And that’s why I keep saying to all of my friends out there, like, in England, if you’re somewhere for about a month, someone’s gonna recognise you and say hi to you.
“You’re gonna build that kind of relationship, but in the States, I don’t even know what my neighbour looks like. I’ve never seen them.
“I hear them, but I’ve never seen them! Whereas in England, you’re gonna hear your neighbour and see them. So the culture difference is quite big honestly. For training it’s been great.
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“It’s amazing for training and that’s mainly why I’m there. So I think for the setup that I have, it gets the job done and it’s actually very, very beneficial and it makes the training a lot easier.
“Training is horrible, by the way, but just the setup that we have and lack of distractions it makes it worth it and easier.”
There are plenty of social hotspots around Buatsi’s vibrant neighbourhood – but the Londoner is too busy resting to take advantage.
He said: “I’m different. I’m in my bed because if I’m not resting the next day, it’s gonna be ten times as hard for me.
“So when it’s time off, it means stay in your bed, sleep as much as you can and just recover because that means the next day it’s gonna be hard. So I haven’t got anything exciting, anything new to tell you!
“We watch different things, to be fair. I study quite a bit when I’m in camp. I watch things about different cultures, religion, about finances, just little weird stuff like different things, but I enjoy it.”
Buatsi has since returned to England for his return to the ring on Saturday against Zach Parker in Manchester.
Parker has lost just once in 27 fights, to John Ryder in 2022, since moving up from super-middleweight.
Meanwhile Buatsi is coming off his first defeat, narrowly losing to Callum Smith, 35, in their February Fight of the Year contender.
Long-time rival Anthony Yarde, 34, challenges American David Benavidez, 28, on November 22 in Riyadh for the WBC title.
And Artur Beterbiev, 40, and Dmitry Bivol, 34, are expected to meet in their trilogy decider next year while tied at one apiece after two epic fights.
So Buatsi is on the outside looking in – but only for now.
He said: “That’s far from my thought in terms of the fight before the fight, but as a good opponent that I’m fighting and somebody that’s only lost once, well experienced, so I’m looking forward to a comprehensive fight.”
