Ben Whittaker: So long as my mom still likes me I don't care what others think
Ben Whittaker might not be everyone’s cup of tea but there’s only ever been one person he’s really worried about keeping onside.
That’s his mother.
“As long as my family is proud and all the people around me, that’s all that matters,” smiles the Darlaston light-heavyweight. “In this world there are always split opinions. You can’t please everyone.”
That is undoubtedly true, yet should the next few years pan out as planned Whittaker may well win over the doubters who still believe him to be more style than substance.
Saturday’s meeting with Germany’s Benjamin Gavazi at the NEC for the WBC silver title feels very much the start of a new chapter in a professional career which, through its first 10 fights, has seen Whittaker become one of Britain’s best-known boxers behind the likes of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury without recording many notable wins in the actual ring.
The 28-year-old’s fanbase of four million Instagram followers has been built chiefly through viral highlight reels of that flamboyant, showboating style and ring persona which has proven so divisive.
As one long-time boxing journalist remarked this week, it can sometimes be easy to forget Whittaker is a seriously talented fighter, part of a very exclusive club of British Olympic medal winners.
Now, the focus appears very much on putting the boxer back ahead of the celebrity. As Eddie Hearn, Whittaker’s new promoter, remarked: “This is when it starts to get serious.”
That process for Whittaker, in truth, began more than a year ago in the aftermath of his controversial draw with Liam Cameron in Saudi, a bout which ended abruptly when both fighters went over the top rope.
Whittaker left the arena in a wheelchair but a night which risked turning him into a laughing stock is now considered a valuable “kick up the a***”.
“I needed it,” he said this week.
