Froch: “He reminds me of Prince Naseem Hamed”
It can be hard to decide what fighter to follow with so many fantastic young prospects around, sometimes it’s almost pot-luck as to whether you are supporting the career of a true star or an unlucky soul who will fall short at the last hurdle.
While you can never be sure how a boxer’s career will pan out, opinions from all-time greats can certainly help guide a fan to predict who the breakout stars may be.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, former super-middleweight champion, Carl Froch has given an inside look at who his favourite fighter currently is.
“I like watching Ben Whittaker, ‘The Surgeon’,” Froch begun.
“Good fighter, light heavyweight. He’s now turned professional. Unbeaten and he is just exciting. He reminds me of Prince Naseem Hamed. His style and the way he moves, the showboating, the showmanship, I just really enjoy watching him fight.”
Froch went on to state he feels Whittaker has the tools to make a dent at the top of the division. However, he will need to tidy up his craft slightly.
“He is a prospect, I do think he will be able to do things at world level. He’ll have to tidy himself up a little bit. He’ll have to probably calm the showboating down,” Froch advised.
“He’ll learn that as he develops. But, yeah, I’m excited about watching ‘The Surgeon’, Ben Whittaker.”
Whittaker, a divisive figure, is coming off the back of his seventh professional victory, winning a one-sided decision over Central Area champion, Leon Willings.
The bout saw Whittaker face some adversity for the first time in his career. While still winning comfortably on the scorecards, Willings did himself proud landing several clean pot shots and short sharp combinations.
However ultimately ‘The Surgeons’ tricky footwork and seemingly endless engine, saw his 23-year-old counterpart outworked and pieced apart, with Whittaker continuing his climb to the top of the division.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the bout, the Olympic silver medallist appeared pleased with his performance, though understands there are lessons to take away from the clash.
Whittaker admitted, “Things to work on, though I broke him down and looked good while doing it.”