Ben Whittaker confident of beating the best of the British right now
It has been an electrifying start in the professional ranks for the Olympic silver medallist and rapidly rising Light Heavyweight prospect Ben ‘The Surgeon’ Whittaker (6-0, 5KO).
Given his amateur pedigree and showboating style, further emphasising the skill disparity between himself and his opponents to date, after just six professional fights the boxing fraternity are impatiently eager to see the polarising future star step up and test himself against a recognisable name.
In an intriguing interview on the George Groves Boxing Club podcast, we got a fascinating insight into a multitude of topics, including how Whittaker got into the sport, where the showboating started, his relationship with Anthony Joshua as well as plans for 2024.
Despite his flashy and arrogant in-ring persona, it was enlightening to see a still charismatic, but more level headed and down to earth side to the stylish slickster, a side that perhaps his critics have overlooked up to this point.
One of the most interesting topics discussed, was how he views himself against the current leading domestic Light Heavyweight contingent.
When probed about how far away he felt he was against the likes of Joshua Buatsi and Dan Azeez, West Midlander Whittaker confidently rebuked ‘If I’m honest I’m not far at all, honestly I could beat both of them now, but it’s one of those things if I beat them then where do I go after that?’
He then added ‘Buatsi was on Sky not so long ago and he said a good thing, Bivol and Beterbiev have got the belts tied up, so where do I go? So that’s the same with me. Where would I go? What I need is activity.’
Though it may seem unrealistic for a six-bouter to truly believe they are capable of besting the likes of a WBA #1 Joshua Buatsi, arguably a world top five name in the division, this self assuredness was also underpinned by a level of realism, accepting whilst ability wise he may be ready now, there is a process he first needs to go through in order to have certain boxes ticked off before he reaches that level.
He stated, ‘It’s all well and good getting these viral moments but what I need is some tough fights, where you do get hit, how do you react, where you have to dig in, that’s what I want.’
It was also interesting to hear Whittaker discuss his matchmaking by BOXXER so far, expressing a slight dissatisfaction with the names he typically gets offered to choose from, ‘It’s a bit annoying, like we don’t get a lot of names on the list, literally sometimes it’s just one name, and it’s like are there no other options? We can get a bigger name. But it’s just the point we’re at right now’.
Whilst trusting his team around him of his long-time amateur trainer, Jobi, professional trainer SugarHill Steward, his father, and promotional team BOXXER, it is still evident that Whittaker is chomping at the bit to be let off the leash sooner rather than later.
It should be a huge 2024 for Whittaker, where activity and building his profile seem to be the primary objectives, alongside moving himself in a position to contend for titles.
Given the way he fights, he will likely always be a divisive character, with people tuning in as fans and others praying he gets humbled, however, thankfully for Whittaker, this will only heighten his marketability.
No matter how quickly he gets rushed through to title contention, there is little doubt it is going to be an exhilarating ride, that fans or not, the UK boxing fraternity will be following every step of the way.