Ben Whittaker

[Master]

Hype train moving fast on this one. Naz 2.0

Ben Whittaker is the real deal.

[Primo Carnera]

Hype train moving fast on this one. Naz 2.0

Ben Whittaker is the real deal.

Let’s see in a few more fights.

[Master]

[Primo Carnera]

Beginning to dislike this fella. Less talk more do.

[TIC]

[Master]

Ben Whittaker would have stepped in at short notice to replace Dan Azeez against Joshua Buatsi if he had been injury-free himself.

Azeez had to pull out of his much-anticipated October clash with Buatsi, which will now be rescheduled. Whittaker would have offered his services, just a few days out from the fight, if he'd been able to.

"If something like that was there and I didn't have a niggle and I was in fight shape I would have jumped in," Whittaker told Sky Sports.

"If that availability came, if Azeez pulled out, I would say I'd fight Buatsi because style-wise it's perfect for me. I would say put me in there. I'm getting money and world title shot after that, it's a no-brainer.

"So I would have jumped into something like that."
He does though acknowledge: "You can't rush things.

"I'm four fights in, I've got to take my time."

Whittaker has been kept out of action by an injury but is targeting a return in December.

"A little hand niggle but nothing too serious," he explained. "I'm just making sure every time I get in the ring now I'm 100 per cent. So I took the time away I needed, I'm still training, still working on things and I should be back out in December hopefully."

He believes fights with boxers like Dan Azeez or Joshua Buatsi are still in his future. Whittaker will want to box the victor of their rescheduled bout.

"The loser, they've got nothing for me. The winner's more the one you want to aim for," Whittaker said.

"You don't aim for second place."

He believes he is ultimately suited for that level of opposition. "I think my style's all wrong for them, theirs is right for me," Whittaker said.

"They can all fight but my whole amateur career, my whole younger career was just guys running at me so if I have to have a boxer or that, I'd say give me one of them because it's easy.

"Light-heavyweight's a real tough weight at the moment," he continued. "They can all punch of course, they can all come forward but no one really is speedy, no one is fast. No one really counter-punches and that's all me.

"The top level [Dmitry Bivol] just beat the face of boxing which is Canelo. The normal domestic level's still nearly world level. It is a tough, tough division. I'm happy to be a part of that. If you turn left, you turn right, there's names everywhere."

He promises: "I know when the time comes I can really switch on and put a clinic on and box. At the moment I'm having fun, TikTok seems to like what I'm doing so I'm doing it [showboating] for that."

But he added: "When the fights do come and I need to switch on, I know I'll switch on."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...ca88784e&ei=21

[Master]

This is a good and entertaining interview where he rates fighters like Naz, Fury and Roy Jones about their showboating.

[Master]

Ben Whittaker is set to return to action against Ezra Areneyeka on June 15 at Selhurst Park.

'The Surgeon' has been added to the stacked Chris Billam-Smith vs Richard Riakporhe undercard against the boxer who gatecrashed his recent press conference.

Following Whittaker's unanimous decision win over Leon Willings at London's O2 Arena in March, Areneyeka stormed the stage to demand a fight with the Olympic silver medallist.

The Nigerian puncher hurled insults at Whittaker before being bundled out of the venue by security.

At the time, a bewildered Whittaker exclaimed: “I don’t even know who that guy is.

“I am worried about his blood pressure, someone get him a bottle of Sprite and a lie-down.

“I like that chain he has on, though, did he get it from Amazon?”

Whittaker will know exactly who Arenyeka is on fight night when they duke it out at the home of Crystal Palace.

During his seven-fight (7-0) stint in the pros, Whittaker has mostly fought journeymen and short-notice opponents but Arenyeka looks to be a good step up in competition, at least on paper.

The 28-year-old holds an impressive undefeated 12-0 pro record, with 10 of his wins coming inside the distance.

Whittaker became a viral internet sensation for his flamboyant showboating and has been tipped by promoter Ben Shalom to become British boxing's next big superstar.

His sixth pro bout against French journeyman Khalid Graidia, amassed millions of views on social media as he danced, dropped his hands and utterly embarrassed his overmatched foe before stopping him against the ropes with a vicious flurry of punches.

Arenyeka insists that same tactic won't work against him.

Speaking to Sky Sports' Toe2Toe, he said: “He’s a great Olympian, a great boxer, but I don’t think he’s a great professional, there's a difference.

"This is not amateur boxing, this is not tippy-tap.

“He’s fought guys that are scared of him and have too much respect, he's not fought a dog like me.

"It’s going to be different, it’s going to be relentless work from me.”

https://talksport.com/sport/1850487/...ference-fight/

[Master]

Ben Whittaker and Ezra Arenyeka started their "beef" at the Wardley press conference.

[Denilson3.0]

Don't think we should be comparing Whittaker to Ali. On a boxing level he's done nothing in comparison to Ali.

But on a social level Ali spoke up for black ppl in America and blk ppl worldwide.

Whittaker ain't speaking about out the plight of blk british people, even though most blk brits live in the mud and haven't got a biscuit and the only time you generally see a black man working in the UK is if he's

1. 1. Security guard at the Aldi, Tesco or at some store "you know ur big n ur blk ain't ya ?....and well u guys are kinda ugly, so you can be a bouncer or work security"
2. 2. Or if a ur a young blk African you can ride a bike for Uber Eats for minimum wage with unsociable hours

He ain't gonna talk like that. Whittaker ain't gonna talk about the 700 blk Africans migrants (men n women and children) who the spanish just allowed to drown a few yrs bk ....if they were white they would not have allowed them to drown.

And I say that, because even though he might think it, he will be like most black sportsmans and say the right thing and got out of his way to not really upset white ppl. Whittaker speaks ? Sky sports - Shalom, British Boxing Board will be threatening to slap him down. That in a way is how racism protects itself, by creating a system that blk ppl depend on.

And to be honest in the press conference I didn't like the way Whittaker was taken the mick with his next opponent (A black Nigerian boxer) about how he can't understand him (when he was easy to understand) and how he watched "Coming To America". Not funny Ben. I bet he can speak English better than you can speak his language.

[Memphis]

We also let black people work in barber shops, petrol stations and warehouses. The really clever ones are allowed to go to school and the athletic ones are allowed to play sport.

[Big J]

Why did he turn down a fight with Lewis Edmondson?

[Master]

One morning in February, light-heavyweight Ben Whittaker woke up to millions of hits on his Instagram account.

It was the Monday after his stoppage win over Khalid Graidia at Wembley Arena.

"My phone just blew up. It was just weird," Whittaker told BBC Sport.

'The Surgeon', as he is known, posted two videos in the days after his devastating disposal of Graidia, showcasing lightning-quick reactions and his showboating antics, which included dancing around the ring during exchanges.

"I've been doing this style since I was a kid and out of nowhere my socials all went crazy," Whittaker said.

"You can't complain, it is good, but I'm just being myself. I won't change for no-one and as long as I get the job done that's all that matters."

Just 24 hours after he posted the first video,, external Whittaker gained over 100,000 followers on Instagram. By March, his follower count had reached 1m, and he has since passed the 2m mark.

The highlight reel, external of that February win, just his sixth fight as a pro, reeled in 2.7m likes and 58m views on Instagram.

Whittaker's style has received criticism from some boxing fans, with the claim it is disrespectful to the opponent across the other side of the ring.

The 27-year-old, from Darlaston, near Walsall in the West Midlands, remains adamant that the showboating is simply a way in which he is able to express himself.

He experienced the impact of wider exposure during a recent trip to America with his promotional company, Boxxer.

"I had people recognise me on the streets from that video," Whittaker said.

"It's humbling for me, a lad from Darlaston having people over there coming up to me."

Whittaker took silver for Team GB at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after defeat by Cuba's Arlen Lopez in the light-heavyweight gold-medal bout.

He made his professional debut in Bournemouth in July 2022 and has now fought and won seven professional fights.

These have all taken place in the UK apart from his second fight when he travelled to Saudi Arabia.

Following his viral moment, Whittaker found that a new audience had begun to follow him. It came as a surprise, having fought for most of his professional career in the UK.

"On my Instagram it was mainly Brazil and the United States that engaged with that viral post," he said.

"It is mad to be honest; Brazil is now the top country that follow me."

Whittaker next fights on the undercard of Chris Billam-Smith's world title defence against Richard Riakporhe at Selhurst Park in London on Saturday.

He will challenge for the first belt of his pro career when he takes on Ezra Arenyeka for the WBA gold light-heavyweight title.

Arenyeka is an undefeated fighter from Nigeria who called Whittaker out in person when he stormed the stage at a news conference before the Briton's last fight in March.

"The main thing is that there's a belt on the line for me - something to show off and hold my jeans up with," Whittaker said.

"It's a big card and will be a big atmosphere, I'll learn from the experience. I'm going to make an example of Ezra."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c4n1y5yjljgo

[Mark TKO]

Arenyeka has a decent record until you dig deeper and look at the opponents. Still someone will lose an 0

[Master]

Arenyeka has a decent record until you dig deeper and look at the opponents. Still someone will lose an 0

It should be an entertaining fight this weekend.