BEN ‘The Surgeon’ Whittaker put on a clinical display over Easter Sunday by stopping Liam Cameron inside two rounds. Whittaker had been the centre of controversy leading into this fight over his previous performance with Liam Cameron that ended in bizarre fashion when both men tumbled out of the ropes and Whittaker could not continue.
The fight was ruled a draw on the scorecards. Many fans wrote Whittaker off as a ‘diva’ who took an easy way out of a fight many thought he was losing up to that point.
In the past months, the moniker ‘Ben Quittaker’ has been floated about online and at press conferences to mock the light-heavyweight and his antics. Prior to the first fight with Cameron, the Olympian already had his detractors with many criticising his fight style.
Whittaker has a very flamboyant and arrogant personality in the ring, often showboating and taunting his opponents. This caused many people to take a dislike to him as they saw it as a form of disrespect. A common opinion held by fans of the sport was that when he comes up against harder opponents he wouldn’t be able to pull off the taunting.
In some sense, they were correct as the first performance in Saudi Arabia with Liam Cameron showed that he needs to be more prepared to deal with tougher opposition. The rematch proved just that. Whittaker came in laser-focused and proved that he is a formidable opponent among light-heavyweights.
Despite overcoming adversity during this rematch, Ben Whittaker still faces criticism, with many different opinions floating on social media. An overwhelmed, emotional Whittaker spoke at the post-fight press conference, explaining how the treatment from fans was getting to him and opened up on his struggles with it.
On one hand, it’s understandable that purists of the sport find his showboating to be distasteful and a bad look on the sport, but on the other hand, he is attracting attention to himself, albeit not all positive, but viewers nonetheless.
Clips of his antics have been flying about social media, which is attracting audiences that domestic boxers don’t see until they hit the world stage. We all know that more viewers mean more money to be made.
The higher you climb, the harder you hit the ground. I think that it’s a high-risk, high-reward manoeuvre. If he is cocky and brash but loses, his stock will diminish significantly but if he keeps on winning, more people will pay to see him, whether they’re paying to support or in the hopes they see him lose. More eyes equal a bigger prize.
Watch Eubank Jr vs Benn on Saturday 26th April live on DAZN, the global home of boxing with over 185+ fights per year. Buy the pay-per-view now at https://www.dazn.com/oneonone
