Joshua Buatsi is very much his own man and his own fighter.

But as he prepares to make his professional debut against Carlos Mena at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, the comparisons with his compatriot Anthony Joshua are hard to ignore.

Both are softly-spoken but hard-hitting. Both came through Britain’s famed amateur system and turned professional on the back of Olympic success. And both can win a world title within 16 fights, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

As the likes of Audley Harrison have shown, however, being dubbed the next incarnation of an elite predecessor can be an albatross around a fighter’s neck, the pre-cursor to inevitable anti-climax.

But Buatsi, an Olympic light heavyweight bronze medallist with a big reputation, is making no attempt to escape Joshua’s shadow. The pair have been training together and the 24-year-old Buatsi is being managed by the heavyweight king’s ‘AJ Boxing’ in the paid ranks.

‘He has brought hope and he has set a path and a standard to show to all of us, you know what, it can be achieved. It is possible,’ he tells Sportsmail ahead of his professional bow on a packed night of British boxing.

‘It’s really good to be working with Josh. He’s been through the Olympic programme and as a professional he has got everything right.

‘So having the same team that manage him do it with me is a good move. They have had experiences that they can guide me with.’

Buatsi has taken longer than most of his Rio 2016 counterparts to join the professional ranks, taking time to complete university before following the likes of Josh Kelly and Lawrence Okolie into the Matchroom stable.

But if he wants to emulate his mentor, he can ill-afford to waste any more time. Within four years and 19 fights of winning Olympic gold at London 2012, Joshua had become the unified heavyweight champion of the world and cemented his place at the top of the sport with a stunning eleventh-round stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko.

For now though, ‘eight fights, eight wins, hopefully eight KOs’ is Buatsi’s target for his first year in the professional game. Then, he hopes, the belts will soon follow.

Like his mentor, however, Buatsi isn’t interested in making predictions or promises. Following his explosive Olympic performances, and months of hype surrounding his move to the paid ranks, the London fighter is finally ready to let his fists do the talking.

‘The talk is easy man, there has been a lot of talking but it’s time to fight,’ he says.

‘Any fighter can talk, it’s about going in there, performing and winning,’ he adds.

Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua dropped in on Manchester United’s players ahead of their Premier League game at Tottenham on Sunday.

Two weeks on from his memorable Wembley win over Wladimir Klitschko on April 29, the 27-year-old went live on Instagram to show himself training with United’s players at their Carrington base.

The likes of Captain Wayne Rooney and England internationals Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard were visible in the video, which showed Joshua taking part in passing drills with the players.

United boss Jose Mourinho, who has previously attended Joshua’s fights at the O2, then presented Joshua with a shirt carrying his name and the number one.

The IBF and WBA champion also posed for pictures with members of the first-team squad.

United have several high-profile fans, most notably Usain Bolt, while grime artist Stormzy recently visited a training session.

The United squad appeared to be in high spirits during training on Saturday following their Europa League semi-final triumph over Celta Vigo.

Following their European exertions, Mourinho has confirmed that United will play a changed team for all three of their final Premier League fixtures with the club eyeing Europa League glory.

‘I have to give some minutes to everyone because we have only 15 players, so I have to play them,’ he said. ‘But I have to play them mixed. I have to play them by periods. And I don’t have another solution.

‘In the Premier League we can only finish fifth or sixth, I think. I don’t think we can finish seventh and I don’t think we can finish fourth. So fifth or sixth.

‘We can win a trophy and by winning that trophy we can play Champions League next season. So that’s the game.’

Heavy Weight champion Anthony Joshua has moved back into his mother’s two-bed ex-council flat despite earning an estimated £15million from defeating Wladimir Klitschko.

The 27-year-old boxer was living in a grand palladian villa in affluent St John’s Wood, rented as a haven so he could focus on the biggest fight of his life.

After defeating Ukrainian Klitschko on an extraordinary night at Wembley last month experts said that Mr Joshua could soon be the world’s first billionaire boxer.

But despite the riches on offer the star is back living with his mother Yeta Odusanya, 51, and his baby son after several gruelling months away from home.

The father-of-one bought her the former council flat in North London for £174,000 after turning professional in 2013, and was pictured moving back in Thursday.

During a round of press interviews after beating Klitschko, Joshua smiled fondly as he spoke of the moment his care worker mother – who he banned from watching the fight ringside – told him she was proud of his incredible triumph in front of 90,000 spectators at Wembley.

For the past decade, he has been in an on/off relationship with the mother of his child, former school friend Nicole Osbourne, who he bought a £500,000 flat not far from his home.

Though the 6ft 6in and 17 stone star is currently single, there is however one woman that will come before any others – his mother.

He has previously credited the close-relationship with Mrs Odusanya as being key to his rapid rise from amateur to becoming a boxing superstar – having now claimed the WBA, IBF, and IBO heavyweight titles.

But he is so fiercely protective that since winning Olympic gold at London 2012 he has not let her watch his fights, be it live or even on TV.

Mrs Odusanya was asked if she was proud of him last month and she simply gave double thumbs up and a big grin before climbing into the £80,000 white Range Rover he had bought her.

Joshua had said revealed that all he wanted to do following the fight was to go back to ‘normal living’ by having a lie-in and catching up with family members.