Ben Whittaker doesn’t enjoy doing media, which is annoying because he’s good at it.
I spoke to his trainer Andy Lee for Total Boxing today and Ben has a cameo in the video.
He was getting changed when Lee found him.
“Put your pants on. You’re on YouTube,” Lee laughed.
“Ben, how are you?”
“Yeah, not too bad. I think the last time we saw each other was Dubai, wasn’t it?” he said.
“It was.”
Back then, Ben had been an in-demand interview for many outlets, but he made time to humour me and we spoke for a while.
And although he might have a “Marmite” public persona, it’s hard to find someone to say a bad word about him.
This week on the Five Live Boxing Podcast, both Richie Woodhall and Steve Bunce posted glowing character references of Whittaker.
But make no mistake. Whittaker can fight, and while Lee had the opportunity to cut his teeth at the Kronk in Detroit under Emanuel Steward, Whittaker would have embraced that opportunity.
“Of course, it would have been a legendary time,” Whittaker said. “The only time I’ve experienced anything like that is when SugarHill used to turn the heating up in Miami. So hopefully that was kind of like that.”
The legendary Kronk spawned generations of world-class warriors. Whittaker learning against the likes of Michael Moorer and Thomas Hearns would have been a sight to see.
(Picture by Cris Esqueda/Matchroom Boxing)
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Ben Whittaker boxes Connor Wallace on Saturday in Birmingham. While Whittaker is big business, it is fair to say he is not the biggest story of the week. That has been everything that has gone on around the heavyweight bout in December between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
Does that frustrate Whittaker, that he is not the name on everyone’s lips?
“No, no, not at all. At the end of the day, it’s a big fight for both of them.
“And at the end of the day, my fight’s Saturday. And I don’t really like to do too much media, so it took a bit of that heat off me. So it’s perfect. But at the end of the day, they’ve got their press conference today and our fight’s Saturday. So there’s nothing really combating the two.”
In June, in New York, Whittaker made his US debut against Richard Rivera, whom he dismissed in two one-sided and impressive rounds.
New York was enamoured by him.
“I made it look like it wasn’t a match for me. But on paper, really, he could have been a WBC cruiserweight world champion,” Whittaker explained. “He lost on a really, really close decision against a great fighter in Badou Jack. He was a good opponent, but he showed my levels really.”
Whittaker has often been described as “Marmite”, because of the like-or-loathe reactions he can generate.
Has he considered a Marmite sponsorship?
No, because he’s not keen on it.
“I’ve tried it on toast. I’m not a fan, to be fair,” he smiled. “I’ve tried the Aldi version as well. It’s probably a little bit better.”
