SOCIAL SKILLS
a viral clip, but the boxing obsessive, steeped in the sport’s lore, feels like the core of Ben Whittaker. In his third pro fight, a third-round TKO of Jordan Grant, he marked a new endorsement deal with sportswear giant Adidas by wearing leopard- print shorts, a nod toward the greatest showboater of British boxing, “Prince” Naseem Hamed. Naz enjoyed a glowing, nostalgic reappraisal in his homeland during early 2026 when the movie Giant was released, documenting his career- shaping relationship with much- loved trainer Brendan Ingle. As such, Hamed seemed like an obvious conversation topic for a man seen as an heir of sorts, but Whittaker conceded he draws upon different influences. “I’m a person who likes to do things that will make sense,” he says. “It was my first fight with Adidas and I kept getting told there were resemblances: ‘Oh, he fights like Naz.’ So I thought just to get them talking again, let’s do the leopard-print shorts. Let’s bring them back. I did like that color. “But stylistically, I’ve always been more of a purist fighter. I grew up watching the Pernell Whitakers, the Floyd Mayweathers, Andre Wards, all those fighters, so that’s been my schooling. Funnily enough. My style is just me. I’d say I’ve got more influence from the Cuban fighters, if anything. I grew up watching people like Julio Cesar La Cruz, Mario Kindelan and Guillermo Rigondeaux.” Another one of boxing’s celebrated schools will also underpin Whittaker’s assault on top honors in the pro game. His godfather, Joby Clayton, guided Ben’s decorated amateur career and is an advocate of the aggressive Kronk style developed by late trainer Emanuel Steward in Detroit. That admiration informed an early pro career union between Whittaker and Emanuel’s nephew SugarHill Steward, but it
himself, so you kind of listen a bit more because he’s been there and done it. “Andy does like my style. He loves how elusive I am, how fast I am, how skillful I am, and you don’t really see a lot of light heavyweights like that. So you don’t want to change that, but we are putting the emphasis on hitting hard. And if you can get them out of there, why make it go longer? “That’s what we showed in the last two fights: that these guys are at a certain level. If we can hurt them, get them out of there, do it. The old me would have messed around, done things for a showboat reel, and then it just gets long and dangerous because they’re still trying to hurt you. So get them out of there where you can.” Whittaker’s two outings under Lee so far have lasted a combined seven minutes and eight seconds, with Cameron and Gavazi obliterated in quicktime. Tougher challenges lie ahead, and Hearn’s plan after a showcase appearance in America is a big domestic summer fight. The 175-pound division is more stacked than almost any other in the U.K. Craig Richards, Dan Azeez, Willy Hutchinson, Lyndon Arthur, Zach Parker or even fellow Olympian Joshua Buatsi – the recipient of a generous decision win over Parker in his most recent outing – could all feasibly be names in the frame. “In January 2027, I want [Whittaker] to be ready to fight for the world title. Not just ready, but ready to win,” Hearn says. Fighter and promoter are certainly on the same page. “I look at my friend Dalton Smith,” Whittaker adds, beaming with pride at the mention of his former Great Britain teammate who thrillingly dethroned WBC junior welterweight titleholder Subriel Matias in Brooklyn on January 10. “He’s won a world title. He’s hardly got any of my follows, but he’s got what I want. That’s what I’m chasing. The follows are nice, but the belt lives with you forever.”
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY Ben Whittaker first came into the public consciousness in the U.K. under painful circumstances. Britain’s light heavyweight hope at the Tokyo Olympics was distraught as he lost the gold medal bout to Cuba’s Arlen Lopez, leaving the ring in tears. The hurt was arguably compounded by the nationality of the man in the other corner. Whittaker is steeped in the Cuban style, and many of his fighting inspirations hail from the Caribbean boxing hotbed. “When I was coming up, I used to watch everyone. I saw Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in the world championships. I watched Shakur Stevenson. I saw all these guys and I’d study them,” he says. “Funnily enough, I got to that level, but the people I really used to study were Robeisy Ramirez and Julio Cesar La Cruz.” To Whittaker’s surprise and delight, the admiration flowed both ways in the case of two-time Olympic gold medalist La Cruz. The 36-year-old claimed light heavyweight glory at Rio 2016 and was an Olympian alongside Whittaker in Tokyo, this time winning gold at heavyweight. “I was out in Dubai or somewhere and Julio comes up to me and says, ‘Ben, can I have a photo?’ I was like, ‘This is weird,’” he beams. “He said he was a fan and that he’d like to get some sparring, so we stayed in touch.”
Unfortunately, both men’s schedules have not lined up. The possibility of getting together around last year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool did not come to fruition, although
one of La Cruz’s team passed on their man’s number to Whittaker and a dream trip could be in the cards if dates line up in 2026.
Trainer Andy Lee has unique insight as a former fighter himself.
ultimately fell apart due to logistical demands placed on the coach as the chief second for globetrotting heavyweight champ Tyson Fury. Clayton was back in Whittaker’s corner by the time he flirted with disaster against tough Sheffield puncher Liam Cameron. He struggled for rhythm throughout his slot on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol undercard in October 2024, and the bout was close enough on the cards to be scored a technical draw after the pair, in a clinch, tumbled over the top rope and out of the ring in Round 5. An ankle injury meant Whittaker was unable to continue. Accusations that he bailed out of a scrap against the rough-and-ready Cameron were hurtful, and Whittaker was booed to the ring by sections of the crowd for the April 2025 rematch in Birmingham. He took care of business inside two emotionally charged rounds, and there was another
“His coach said, ‘We’d love to invite you to Cuba. We’ve got a big training camp; you can stay at our facilities.’ Hopefully this year we can get something sorted, because that’ll just be a bucket list thing, man, to go over to Cuba, train with someone that I grew up watching. It was a weird, full-circle moment where he came up to me. Weird but good.” Even though most of the talk regarding Whittaker opponents this year will revolve around the rich U.K. crop of light heavyweights, Lopez looms as both friend and foe. An itch to scratch as he continues to flit between the codes as a 6-0 professional. “If I’m playing FIFA (the soccer video game) and someone beats me, I’m practicing in silence until I can get them back, you know what I mean? That’s what I feel like,” Whittaker adds. “I like Arlen Lopez, we follow each other on Instagram, we talk now and again. But in the back of my mind, I wanna get that back. “I just feel like since Tokyo, I’ve become a whole different fighter. I’m a better boxer. I can hit harder, and I’m a bit more of a pro, whereas he’s doing back and forth. I think that’ll ruin his style a little bit. If I could, and it makes sense, sign me up, because it would be good to make it 1-1 instead of 1-0.”
of Emanuel Steward’s Detroit disciples giving the instructions. “It was a compliment in itself really, him reaching out, because I know a lot of people want to go there,” Whittaker says of Andy Lee, the former middleweight titleholder who was working as an analyst for DAZN on the night of the first Cameron fight and got in contact with the much-maligned fighter in the aftermath. “I went to Ireland to try him out. I was fortunate to try other coaches too, but we just clicked. “For my whole career, I’ve kind of been schooled in the Kronk way, so it’s not really out of my comfort zone. It’s really just neatening things up, sharpening things up. He was a fighter
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