Ben Whittaker had the nation’s finest promoters bidding hard to sign the Team GB amateur standout. The West Midlands man would go on to sign a lucrative deal with Boxxer and Sky Sports.
Whittaker (2-0) heads to the city of Birmingham where he will lock horns with Jordan Grant on the Joshua Buatsi Vs Pawel Stepien undercard tomorrow evening.
The Olympic silver medalist spoke exclusively to ProBox TV News ahead of his third professional contest.
“I was born in West Brom, but I lived in Wolverhampton. We can kind of say [I’m from] both.” Said Whittaker as he described the significance of his next fight being in Birmingham, just 17 miles from home.
“My amateur career took me all around the world, which I'm grateful for, but I didn’t get to fight at home much. I probably fought six or five times, something like that. For once I get to fight at home on a big platform. My friends and family will be able to come and see me who haven’t seen me fight and if we do it right, more nights will come.”
Whittaker dazzled on the amateur scene, medaling at European and World championships, he also made headlines for describing himself as a ‘failure’ when missing out on a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. He now looks to replicate that form in the pro ranks.
“One thing I was really grateful for was that it made me appreciate where I came from.” Replied Whittaker on what he learnt before turning professional. “It’s because you go places and see 5 year old kids running up the mountain. You see people trying to change their life from that young you think, we got it good at home man! It opened up my eyes. If a 5 year old is doing this, we got to step up man. But, I was very privileged for that, it gave me a lot of confidence and a lot of experience. That’s what I take forward.”
At the official press conference moments before our interview Whittaker came across as purposefully arrogant and cocky toward Jordan Grant. Minutes later I was talking to a completely different person.
“100 percent, I’m someone who takes on both roles.” Whittaker explained the switch in personality. “I’m somebody that comes from nothing. Both my Mum and Dad worked two jobs, all I’ve done is work as hard as I can to change my life as well as theirs. I know what it is like to work very hard, I know what it is like to come from nothing, so I’m very humble. But when I’m sitting on stage and someone needs me to take that [bad guy] role, I’ll happily take it. I will say the things that I need to say to get into the limelight, but at the end of the day I work very hard just like everybody else. I don’t go partying, I don’t drink or do anything like that, I live the life. I’ve got two sides to myself, I know when to switch it on and when to switch it off.”
Whittaker moves back in some regards. Starting again in a new format having previous graced podiums and being driven around on celebratory open top buses, the Wolverhampton man now gets to work building his record on the undercards of the country’s biggest fighters.
“I don’t mind it.” Whittaker said. “You can build yourself on these undercards and you can do it in a quiet way. If I just started at the top, it wouldn't feel right, I wouldn’t have earned it. I’m not delusional about that. It’s one of those things in this sport, it is not a sprint, it is a marathon. I got to work my way up, take the right fights at the right time and I’m sure I will get there.
“That’s the only thing with being an Olympian, It’s a double edged sword. You get good promotion and all the good promoters wanting you but then they don’t let you develop. I know where I can be already, I spar world title contenders and I could beat them now. But when you are in the ring it is different, you need rounds and experience. You need to know when to do things and when not to do things. That’s sometimes where the English boxing scene gets stuck, [they think] he’s an Olympian throw him in a 12 rounder, I’m thinking I’ve not even done 8 yet. For me, my team and my promoter we need to put out a plan where we will fight the right fights at the right time, build the right experience. So when I am there, I’ll stay there.”
The exciting light heavyweight gets the chance to go 3-0 tomorrow night, an angry Jordan Grant stands in his way.
“He’s a tough guy, he’s up for it.” Whittaker added. “He was turning red, bless him. I thought somebody needs to check on him, man. I thought he was going to pass out. He was getting angry [at the press conference], but that means he is going to come for a fight.”
