Ben Whittaker is one of the UK’s most talked about fighters.
The light heavyweight’s flashy skills and theatrics in the ring have brought much attention since his professional debut in 2022, and with that has come criticism. At times, Whittaker has appeared more interested in entertaining than ending matters, fighting with his hands behind his back or taunting opponents rather than removing them. There has never been any doubt about his talent, but questions have lingered over his intent.
“If you look at the whole division, no one really does it; no one can move like me, so it's unique. Why take it away?” Whittaker told BoxingScene. “I look back at my career, even Leon Willings [whom Whittaker beat on points in 2024], I was messing around with him to the point where he went the [distance]. [The next fight against] Ezra Arenyeka went the whole way because I was messing around.”
There seems to have been a shift, however, in how Whittaker now approaches fights.
A night to forget - and the catalyst for what was to follow it - came in Saudi Arabia back in June of 2024 when Whittaker was given hell by Liam Cameron before falling over the ropes and injuring his ankle. The bout was ruled a draw after five completed rounds when Whittaker could not continue. He then brought in trainer Andy Lee ahead of the rematch four months later.
A more spiteful version of Whittaker emerged. Cameron was dispatched inside two rounds, with little of the usual theatrics from the West Midlands fighter. That was followed by a destructive first-round knockout of Germany’s Benjamin Gavazi in November – a performance that suggested a growing willingness to close the show from Whittaker rather than prolong it.
“If the opportunity is there to clean them out, then do it before they can do it to you. So that's what I've got the mindset to do now,” said the 28-year-old. “But it's one of those as well, because as soon as I knock someone out like that, ‘Well you're not dancing anymore.’ So you can't really please everybody, but for me, we've been working in the gym, and I can hit now, so what's the point of messing around if you can take them out. So with Benjamin Gavazi, we went out there expecting him to go rounds, I hit him and he was gone, so you've just got to take it while it comes, you don't want extra time if you need extra time.”
The challenge now is whether Whittaker can strike a balance between retaining the flair that built his name and building the ruthlessness required to compete with the very best at 175lbs.
Since that stoppage of Gavazi, Whittaker has been forced to wait. Whittaker was due to make his US debut on the undercard of Vergil Ortiz-Jaron Ennis but the bout never materialized, leaving him on the sidelines for several months. The time, however, was not a waste. Whittaker immersed himself in Lee’s gym out in Ireland, surrounded by fighters such as Paddy Donovan and Hamzah Sheeraz.
“It's been great, and this time it's been good because we've been in the gym where at home it's just me usually,” he said. “My last camp was just me as well, where this time I've been around Paddy [Donovan, 147lb contender], been around Hamzah [Sheeraz, 168lb contender], so it's been a good gym to be fair. The only time I've ever had something like that is when I was on Team GB, and I'm a person where if I see Hamzah do two on the bag, I'm doing four punches, if Paddy's doing six, I'm doing 12. That's what I'm like, so it pushes you on, and it's good to be around people like that.”
Whittaker is already gaining attention from the leading names at light heavyweight, with David Morrell calling his name after Callum Smith withdrew from their scheduled bout this Saturday. Whittaker was already on the bill and will now headline against Argentina’s Braian Suarez.
“He must need the money, that's all I'll say,” Whittaker joked of Morrell’s callout. “At the end of the day, he's never mentioned me before, the fight fell through [with Smith], he's frustrated, I've come and taken the headline. I'd be frustrated too, but at the end of the day, he'll just have to wait his turn.
“It shows I'm not far off if they're calling me out, that's what I say. He's called me out, [WBC champion David] Benavidez has called me out, other people have called me out, so for me, they see what’s what. Boxers know, so if they're calling me out, they know, but for me, I just move at my pace, move when I want to move. It’s kind of like what AJ said to Fury, ‘I'm the boss,’ that's why they're calling me out, because they know I'm the boss, so that's the way it is.”
Whittaker himself admits that there is still work to do before taking on fighters the calibre of Benavidez and Morrell.
“Even Benavidez said in an interview, which is fair enough, he said I’m just a bit green at the moment,” Whittaker said. “In boxing terms, it means I've not done all the experience I need to. So that's how I see it, you'd rather get me now than later, so for me, the more experience I get, the more rounds I do, the more I go to America and back, I'm only going to get more dangerous. I'm just banking it all up until I really need to.”
Suarez, 21-4 (20 KOs), is next for Whittaker this Saturday at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena and the hard-hitting Argentinian is seen as the first real puncher Whittaker has been in with.
“Well, he's got 20 knockouts out of 21 wins, so on paper he's got more knockouts than I've had fights,” said Whittaker. “He’s a tough opponent, a lot of people kind of brush past the IBO world title, but still it's a world title, he fought for it, he's fought some good names on his record. So for me, he's going to be a good fighter, but I just believe in every department I'm a better fighter.”
Despite the heavy-handed Suarez’s intimidating knockout record, he has been stopped before on British shores. Lyndon Arthur, one of Whittaker’s domestic rivals, stopped the Argentinian in 10 rounds back in 2023.
Regardless, Whittaker feels no pressure.
“I'm not in competition with nobody,” he said. “I know if I go out there and do what I do, it should be, not a cakewalk, but it'll look good. I'll make it look like how it should look really, a lot of people go, ‘It's too easy when I go out there and do what I do,’ but I'm in competition with nobody.
“If I do what I do, I'll outshine them all anyway.”
