British light-heavyweight fighter Ben Whittaker has been highly lauded as one of the best British talents from the country, attributed to his prevalent amateur career which saw him win an Olympic silver medal. However, his performance against fellow Brit Liam Cameron on October 12th [on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard] was left wanting as his match with Cameron ended early through a split-decision technical draw after Whittaker reportedly sustained two injuries following a WWE-style tumble where both fighters fell out of the ring. However, allegations have spun around whether Whittaker actually quit, claims not made any better after English trainer Dominic Ingle came out implying that Whittaker had shown to have a suspectible mentality as an amateur.
Ben Whittaker (8-0-1, 5 KO’s), signed to British promotional outfit Boxxer, entered the pro ranks with a lot of buzz given his performances as an amateur―which includes a gold medal at the EU Championships in 2018, a bronze medal at the World Championships in the same year, and an Olympic silver medal during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Despite his amateur pedigree, Whittaker has suffered from poor matchmaking after deciding to start his professional career with Boxxer in the light-heavyweight (175 lbs) division. Since 2022, Whittaker has been faced with sub-par opposition, exemplified through his penultimate opponent in Ghanaian contender Eworitse Ezra Arenyeka (12-1, 10 KO’s) whose own unbeaten record before facing Whittaker obscured the fact he had only faced three fighters with a winning record―with them notably having had almost as many losses as they had wins.
Liam Cameron (23-6-1, 10 KO’s), though lesser known compared to Ben Whittaker, was therefore a risky step-up fight for Whittaker given Cameron had almost managed to defeat British former world title challenger Lyndon Arthur (24-2, 16 KO’s) after suffering a split-decision loss to him in June―best known for beating top-ranked British contender Anthony Yarde (25-3, 24 KO’s) in 2020.
The Whittaker-Cameron fight on October 12 would highlight Cameron’s underrated ability as a fighter while Whittaker’s was scrutinized after the two battled through five rounds in an extremely close contest. Originally scheduled for 10 rounds, the match was stopped when the two fighters fell out of the ring in the fifth round.
As Whittaker was regarded as injured following the tumble out of the ring, the match was forced to be ended early and went to the judges’ scorecards which pinpointed the match as a split-decision (SD) technical draw after scores where both fighters received a 58-57 score, and one judge ruled it a draw through a score of 58-58.
Following the match, Whittaker was assessed to have suffered an ankle sprain and an aggravated neck injury―supported by the fact Whittaker was also reported to have left the Kingdom Arena, the venue he fought in, in a wheelchair. Whittaker was later taken to a hospital where his injuries were confirmed.
However, not everyone seems convinced Ben Whittaker was as badly injured as claimed. Liam Cameron’s team would allege during a post-fight interview following the fight that Whittaker’s own corner advised him to stay down and essentially fake an injury to quit by scrupulous means.
“I don’t think the [Ben Whittaker] injury was legit,” One member of Cameron’s corner told Boxing King Media. “He [Whittaker] didn’t even move―he didn’t even try to get up or anything like that. His corner was heard to say, ‘stay down’.“
As British trainer Dominic Ingle would indicate, there have been several question marks surrounding Whittaker’s mentality at the pro level after Ingle revealed Whittaker had stepped out of a sparring session with British professional Liam Williams (25-5-1, 20 KO’s)―who Ingle was training―earlier than he was supposed to during his younger amateur days.
“I took Liam Williams to spar him [Ben Whittaker] when he was an amateur down [at] the [English] Institute of Sport,” Ingle told Boxing King Media. “And, crafty what they did, we had him [Williams] sparring two kids―four rounds and four rounds, and he was going to fight Alantez Fox.
“We put him [Williams] in with a kid in the beginning, four rounds, and the kid came out and jumped on Liam and tried to have a punch with him and gass him out―he got top-side. And then they put in Ben Whittaker who was kind of the star of the show at the time, and he came in doing all thi flashy stuff.
“Liam stood by, pressured him and after three rounds Ben Whittaker had enough and he jumped out. He didn’t do four rounds. Now, you know, bearing in mind Liam Williams had done four [tough] rounds already, and he was on about 60%, and then he went on with Whittaker―who tried to be flashy and everything else, and Liam Williams just chopped him down.
“And then he [Whittaker] jumped out. That says a lot about a fighter. Even at that level you kind of get an idea that even if you’re getting [beat] in a sparring session, the name of the game is to finish what you’re supposed to be doing unless you get knocked out―which you shouldn’t be in a sparring session.“
According to Ingle, Whittaker had supposedly already showed a weak mentality as an amateur, suggesting there might be some truth to the allegations of Whittaker having quit against Cameron.
In any case, a rematch between the two seems to be the best solution going forward, allowing both fighters to showcase their ability once more to prove who is the best between them both, if not to decide who truly has the potential to climb up for the opportunity to become a world champion in their division.
