Expect Ben Whittaker’s viral showboating to remain a key facet of his boxing, even though he is on a run of three double-quick knockout victories.
Whittaker, an Olympic silver medallist, shot to prominence as a professional fighter as he displayed outrageous showboating and showmanship in his contests.
More recently, though, his quick-finishing instincts have come to the fore.
Since his contentious draw with Liam Cameron, when Whittaker tumbled out of the ring and could not continue, the Olympic silver medallist has won three fights in two rounds or less.
He took out Cameron in the second round of their rematch last year and then dispatched Benjamin Gavazi and Braian Suarez, winning both of those contests with stunning first-round knockouts.
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Whittaker showed his power in his rematch with Liam Cameron.
Whittaker has taken those wins so rapidly that there has been no time for him to display his trademark showboating.
“If the shot’s there to take them out, I’ll take it,” Whittaker told Sky Sports. “I’ve been working on sitting on the shots, punching through the target, hurting them.”
The showboating, though, is a part of his style.
“Andy (Lee, Whittaker’s trainer) knows as well it’s very unique, it’s different. When I can be disciplined I’m a great boxer, too. So it’s just marrying the two. Knowing when to do it, when not to do it,” Whittaker said.
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A look at the Ben Whittaker’s showboats in his dominant display over Ezra Arenyeka.
He intends to use it as another tool in his approach and he is convinced that his skillset can take him to the top of the sport.
“Of course it’s my own style, but I did get a lot of it coming through the amateurs, seeing (Cuba’s Julio Cesar) La Cruz, they would win rounds sometimes not throwing punches, they would win from dominating just making someone miss and that’s the beauty to me of boxing, being able to win a round off maybe two jabs and making someone miss – that’s when you’ve got complete domination,” he said.
“I fell in love with that style. It is a hard style to come up against or to even use yourself.
“A lot of people see it as disrespectful, this and that – it’s just a different art. Just like people knock out people, it’s another art.
“So for me it’s a way of doing something different and seeing different looks. It’s a good skill to have.”
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Ben Whittaker once again put on a display to entertain the fans at London’s O2 Arena during his points victory over Leon Willings.
He added: “Those great fighters, Willie Pep, George Benton, even Pernell Whitaker, these fighters, they had their own style.
“A lot of people have it in their own way and I’ve just got it in my own way. It’s a unique style and when you do it right, it comes off beautiful.”
After his victory over Suarez, Whittaker is expected to box in the US in the summer and then return to the UK. A match up with a domestic rival, like Joshua Buatsi or Anthony Yarde, before the end of the year would be ideal.
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Ben Whittaker and Prince Naseem Hamed have both been known to entertain fans with their repertoire of showboating skills – but who does it best?
“Domestic clashes are what people want to see, so something like that back in England,” he said. “As an armchair fan, when I was a kid watching those fights like (George) Groves and (Carl) Froch, they were the ones that got you out of your seat,” he said.
“If I could emulate something like that, that would be great but I suppose they’re on their own path, I’m on my own path, so we’ll see.”
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