Black Country fighter Ben Whittaker backed to come back stronger

The light heavyweight from Darlaston was tipped to improve his unbeaten record of 8-0 against his Sheffield opponent with ease, but the Black Country fighter found himself in a sticky situation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

On a night where the main event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol should have made headlines, it was Whittaker’s fight that turned heads as both fighters fell over the top rope and crashed out of the ring in the fifth round.

In that bizarre moment, Whittaker suffered injuries to his neck and ankle and left the arena in a wheelchair when the fight was declared a draw.

But Boxxer promoter Shalom, who Whittaker signed with in 2022, expects the 27-year-old to come back fighting.

“It was a bad night for Ben,” Shalom said via talkSPORT Drive.

“I’ve never seen Ben Whittaker perform like that.

“I knew from the first round that he was not right. His energy level, his timing and he was getting hit with shots that he normally never gets caught with.

“Ben Whittaker with the right mindset should have no problem with Liam Cameron, so there are massive changes for him now.

“I feel for him in a way. He has become one of the most recognizable faces overnight, but he needs to get his act together in the ring.

“But I believe it will be the making of him. He’s in bad shape and he’s a perfectionist.

“He will make it exactly what he needs to do and he will come back.”

The Black Country scrapper is now recovering from his injuries before deciding on his next fight, with many calling for a rematch with Cameron.

Shalom added: “I believe we will see that rematch, but first he has to go through a rehabilitation process.

“I don’t know yet (how long). He’s not going to fight this year. He was scheduled to return in December, but he will not be available then.

“Hopefully we’ll see him return early this year because we don’t want this to last too long.

“He is still getting ratings and is back in the UK now, but we will see what happens.”

Cameron accused Whittaker of quitting and demanded an immediate rematch.

He said via talkSPORT: “I just couldn’t believe what was going on, there was a plan to take him down slowly.

“He slowly called me and said my body looked like a potato, and it doesn’t look good for him right now.

‘I feel like I ruined his personality and career. He said he was going to make me a meme and now he is the meme.

“Ben needs the second chance, it has to happen. There is no way out.

“Fans will demand it and all his followers have given me the love and support.”