The arrival of Ben Whittaker (9-0-1, 6 KO’s) at Matchroom appeared a match made in heaven a few weeks ago with two huge personalities in Whittaker and Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn joining forces to potentially take over global boxing.
However, the fanfare surrounding this potentially legendary partnership has dimmed down after Whittaker’s opponent was announced: unknown German contender Benjamin Gavazi (19-1, 13 KO’s) who is currently unranked on every major ranking board.
Whittaker is set to make his promotional debut against Gavazi as the headliner Matchroom’s upcoming November 29th show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK, but the choice of opponent for the Brit stirs back memories of his period with Boxxer which saw him fail to impress or rise as a light-heavyweight (175 lbs) contender.
Steered by the controversial Ben Shalom, head of Boxxer, Whittaker’s most notable fights came against hardy Brit Liam Cameron (23-7-1, 10 KO’s) who pushed Whittaker to a disputable technical decision (TD) draw during their first fight before their second fight ended in a 2nd-round stoppage victory for Ben Whittaker.
While the saga between Whittaker and Cameron captured the attention of the British media due to allegations of the former quitting during their first match, Whittaker came into the sport with expectations of him quickly becoming a world title contender or champion following an Olympic silver medal run during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Debuting as a pro in 2022 at 175 pounds where he is still active today, Ben Whittaker was expected to be announced to face a top 15 contender ― as ranked by one of the main four sanctioning bodies ― in a bid to rise to become a genuine challenger but seems to still be on training wheels judging by his latest match-up.
Ironically, Hearn outlined his intentions to make Whittaker a superstar and world champion in boxing as soon possible during a facetime interview between them, but seems to have issues finding a properly-matched opponent that can push Whittaker closer towards his potential.
