Joshua Buatsi wants to rematch Callum Smith, with their brutal first encounter still a leading contender for fight of the year.

Buatsi and Smith met in an epic 12-round clash in Riyadh in February, with Smith coming away a unanimous-decision victor and the new WBO Interim light-heavyweight titlist.

Despite the punishing nature of their first fight, Buatsi would welcome a second bout with Smith and a shot at revenge.

“It just hurt more that I didn’t win,” Buatsi told Sky Sports. “It was a horrible feeling to have lost.

“I’ve had a lot of good feedback from people and everything about what a good fight it was. But when you get in a fight like that, a fight that’s competitive and close, you wish you’d come out on top.”

It was a gruelling contest, but Buatsi insists he would have gone into a rematch “straight away”.

“If they had said do you want to do it again, I would have said yeah. I lost my titles so of course I would have jumped in straight away. But if it happens later on down the line, I’ll take it,” he said.

Now Buatsi has to rebuild, and he is taking on Zach Parker next as he looks to work his way towards world-level contention.

Parker is actually a previous amateur opponent, whom Buatsi beat in the national championships more than a decade ago.

“I’m not the same fighter, and I’m sure he isn’t either. We boxed many years ago as kids,” Buatsi said. “I know that he was close to getting that [Canelo Alvarez] fight.

“Parker’s no walk in the park. It’s for me to go away, to work hard, come back November 1 and put on a show.”

As well as his hoped-for rematch with Smith, victory could lead Buatsi to a long-awaited clash with his London rival Anthony Yarde.

“I’m available to all of them,” Buatsi said. “I want to box these people. Right now, November 1 it’s Parker, after that throw all the names at me and I’ll say yes to all of them.

“For me it’s [the aim] to get back up there and get into these fights again.”