ANDY Lee is not willing to chuck Ben Whittaker into the deep end anytime soon, despite believing that his light-heavyweight charge is a ‘world-class’ talent.
Their promising fighter-trainer relationship was ignited earlier this year, not long before Whittaker, 9-0-1 (6 KOs), produced a stunning second-round finish to exact his revenge on Liam Cameron.
Prior to that, ‘The Surgeon’ had come under fire for his underwhelming performance in their first encounter, where a controversial ending saw him come away with a sixth-round technical draw.
But now – much to the credit of former world champion and esteemed coach Lee – it would appear that a degree of hype, which surrounded his early development, has been firmly restored.
Regarding the immediate future of Whittaker’s career, meanwhile, there is little to suggest that, following his fight last April, he will return to action in the coming months.
His promoter, Ben Shalom, is seemingly in the process of negotiating a new broadcast deal, while a stable of combatants, previously belonging to Sky Sports, continue to wait for a tangible fight date.
Naturally, activity is now a primary concern for Lee, who equally insists that Whittaker’s next outing should represent a calculated test.
“There’s been no indication as to when Ben will fight next, but he does need to fight soon because it’s important for him to be active,” Lee told Boxing News.
“The talent is there; he just needs time and experience. So I think that small progressions, and small steps up in levels, is what he needs.
“He’s only had ten [professional] fights, so it’s still early days in his career, even though he’s a bit older [Whittaker is 28 years old].
“But he’s a clean-living guy, and while his talent is world-class at the moment, he just needs more time [to develop].”
Sure enough, Whittaker and Lee are embracing the chance to work on new things in the gym while, at the same time, hoping that a fight date emerges sooner rather than later.
As for potential opponents, newly-crowned European champion Brad Rea could represent an appealing option, while the likes of Jack Massey and Isaac Chamberlain, too, would equally make for intriguing domestic dustups against the West Midlands man.
