Olympic silver medallist, Ben Whittaker progressed to 6-0 this past weekend with another breathtaking performance on the Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez undercard. Although the opponent was nothing to rave about, it’s the manner in which he’s beating his opponents which has fans excited.
His dazzling style gets fans up out of their seats and similar to the legendary Floyd Mayweather Jr, you either tune in to see him win or see him get knocked out. As of yet, six have tried and all but one has suffered a knockout loss. It’s not exactly the knockouts that draw the headlines, it the manner in which he punishes his opponents.
Naturally, his style has drawn comparisons to the great, Prince Naseem Hamed. Hands down, flashy, risky and mocking, attempting to draw a wild swing out of his opponents, more often than not succeeding. What makes Whittaker so intriguing is that he’s a light heavyweight. He’s a big guy who has no right moving that quickly and do so well.
Ben Whittaker with another win with even more showboating
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Dazzling Latest Performance
Having had plenty of criticism thrown his way after his last performance in Bournemouth for the amount of showboating he did at the time, the pressure was somewhat on Whittaker to get in there and get it done.
After a reserved first round, Whittaker began to turn it on. Shifting to his left, he smashed a left hook to the body, sinking his opponent. After, he allowed his opponent a moment’s rest, but don’t get it mistaken, he did it on purpose. A 360 spin on one leg saw the referee step in and give him a warning.
A slap on the top of the head, a shake of the hips, a Muhammad Ali-style avoidance of shots and multiple direction changes saw Ben Whittaker put on a pure show for the fans. The fifth round marked the end of the games and it appeared that Whittaker flicked ‘that’ switch in order to finish things. Punishing shots, mixing it to the body and to the head saw the fight referee step in at 1:57 of the fifth round.
It’s now time for a step-up in competition for Whittaker. If he’s managed, promoted and matched correctly, we could very well be seeing the next Prince Naseem Hamed. Exciting times for British boxing.
