'Sitting on the toilet left me in excruciating pain - I thought my boxing dream was over'

Dan Azeez felt like his boxing career could be going down the pan when back pain made sitting on the toilet total agony.

The London light-heavyweight is finally set to face old pal Joshua Buatsi this weekend at Wembley Arena. The long-time friends were supposed to square off back in October until a back injury forced Azeez to pull out in fight week.

That left the 34-year-old Lewisham local fearing not only had he missed a chance to stun Buatsi, but that father time may be catching up with him. “Before I got all the scans and it checked, I thought it could be the end of me,” said Azeez.

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“There are people who have had this back injury and then that’s it. I was thinking, ‘I build myself up to this point and headlining, fighting an Olympian, in contention for a world title and in the blink of an eye it is taken away from me?’.

“I was very emotional but once we got the results back, got things put in place and the rescheduled date, I was pleased. There’s fighters who have had injuries and then that’s it. I was grateful that wasn’t going to be my story.”

There were rumours swirling around boxing that the fight was pulled because of poor ticket sales at the original venue of the O2. But Azeez insists those claims are nothing more than speculation.

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“I was at a back specialist the day it got pulled,” he said. “Once the specialist had said the fight is off, that’s when I was really concerned. I was in such a bad way, I could hardly walk.

“Even sitting on the toilet left me in excruciating pain. Sitting in a car, I had to lie down, it was crazy. I was very emotional and thinking ‘what’s going to happen?’.”

Azeez is well into his 30s but, with just 20 professional bouts, the finance graduate turned fighter believes he is still a young man in the game. But he knows this clash for his British and Commonwealth crowns is one he has to win with a world-title shot up for grabs.

The pair have known each other for 10 years and shared the ring for sparring on many occasions. Yet this is a fight Buatsi, who is now 30, is expected to win with his Rio Olympics pedigree and promise to reach the top of the division.

But Azeez is out to spoil his old friend’s plans in a big way. He said: “I didn’t have no red carpet laid out for me when I turned professional. Every fight is a life changing opportunity.

“I’m the underdog. He’s never been in a fight when he’s the underdog. It is familiar territory for me. He’s got a lot of pressure on him as the Olympian. He’s also got pressure because people thought he would be further on in his career than he is at the moment.

“Maybe he might feel the pressure in that sense but it could give him more of a drive. My mind is fully focused on what I’m coming up against.”