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Benjamin Whittaker is ready for the off

Darlaston's Benjamin Whittaker has done his homework before he heads off this week to represent England at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa.

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Final countdown - Benjamin Whittaker wants to go out with a bang in youth boxing.

The 18-year-old, who boxes out of Steve O'Rourke's Wodensborough Boxing Club, is one of five fighters picked for Team England, writes Craig Birch.

The teenage middleweight is considered the country's best for his age at 75kg and has already took part in 40 unpaid bouts, with just four defeats.

He's won two national titles, going all of the way in the England Youth Championships this year and the National Ambition tournament of 2013.

He made his England debut last year and captained the Three Nations Youth team in just his second appearance, losing in the grand final.

That defeat to close friend Zak Chelli put his Commonwealth spot in doubt after the two squared up in wins against each other, taking into account Whittaker's victory for this year's Youth title.

But the West Midlands fighter got the nod, after the international selectors pitted the two together behind-closed-doors in sparring sessions at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

That came to pass in June, giving Whittaker time to swot up on potential opponents before he first travels to New Zealand for a warm weather training camp.

He knows for sure European champion Willie Hutchinson, from Scotland, Cyprus' Andreas Kokkinos and Australia's Dylan Hardy will be entered at the weight.

Whittaker said: "I'm not nervous at all, I just want to go over there and do the business. Gold is the colour I'm going for and I know I can do it, if I perform to my best.

"Losing in the Three Nations was a disappointment, but the positive I can take from it is that I captained the team and beat the Scottish lad in the semi-final, so I know what he's about.

"I felt hard done to with the Chelli result, but I've beat him before and felt that I schooled him then and in the spars we had for the England spot.

"I've won the Haringey Box Cup since then and the Cypriot kid lost to Bradie Perkins in the first round. An international class fighter should be getting the job done there.

"I've tracked down some footage of the Aussie on You Tube, too, and I didn't see anything there to scare me. I should get the win over them all."

Whittaker will travel from Heathrow Airport to Auckland, where they will use New Zealand's leading gym Boxing Central for training.

They land in the Samoan capital, Apia, on September 4 before the Games start the next day. They will take up residence in the athletes village.

Whittaker, Kiaran MacDonald, Brandon Lee Doard, Mohammed Harris Akbar and captain Dalton Smith make up the team, coached by Paul Bennett and Mick Driscoll.

Whittaker said: "It's a good bunch and we need to support each other. We are a long way from home and away from our families, so it's key for all of us.

"This is what top level boxing is about. If you are serious about going to the Olympics one day, you need to get used to it."

He's been sparring with the pros to get him fighting fit for action, sharing the training ring with the likes of Birmingham-based WBO Inter-Continental middleweight titlist Tommy Langford.

Whittaker said: "It was a good tangle with Tommy, he's got a good engine and he's clever. That's just the sort of preparation I need."

It's been a family affair in the run up to the trip for Whittaker, who lives at home with boxing-mad dad Tony Wilson and his mum Karen.

He's landed another training partner in older brother Jamie, who is back on leave from his post in the Marines.

A boxing champion in the forces, he's been able to do a lot of the groundwork with his younger sibling day-to-day.

The rest of his core sessions have come at godfather's Joby Clayton's Firewalker gym in Wolverhampton and Wodensborough Boxing Club, under coaches Steve O'Rourke and ex-pro Varuzhan Davtyan.

Whittaker said: "It's nice to have Jamie around.

"I can train to a certain fitness level on my own but you need somebody pushing you. He comes with me on my early morning runs and he's been a big help with my nutrition, too.

"He's the same weight as me but he's more compact, where I'm tall and rangy."

Team England's have a 60-strong squad heading to Apia for the Games. Around 1,000 athletes aged 14-18 will be competing for 107 gold medals in nine sports over five days of competition.

The travelling delegation will take part in seven other sports apart from boxing which are archery, athletics, lawn bowls, rugby sevens, squash, swimming and weightlifting.

England has attended all of the previous Youth Games, always finishing in the top three nations.

Some of the country's highest-profile stars have appeared at the Youth Games including Jessica Ennis-Hill, Beth Tweddle, Danny Cipriani, Zoe Smith and James DeGale.

The Games has provided a number of emerging talent with their first exposure to an international, multi-sport environment.

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