Eddie Hearn says he desires to take British mild heavyweight contender Ben Whittaker to America for his subsequent combat after knocking out Benjamin Gavazi in a single spherical final Saturday night time in Birmingham, England.
The Matchroom promoter Hearn states that the united statesfans would “love” Whittaker’s fashion of combating. He desires to see who he can discover for the unbeaten WBC Silver 175-lb champion Whittaker (10-0-1, 7 KOs) to combat.
David Morrell as a Potential U.S. Opponent
The U.S.-born prime 10 mild heavyweight contenders aren’t well-known to American followers. It’s unlikely that Hearn would need to take the chance of matching Whittaker towards a number of the American-based contenders like these two:
- David Morrell – based mostly in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk – based mostly in Camarillo, California
If Hearn desires to have Whittaker win over U.S boxing followers, matching him towards Morrell or Gvozdyk can be the way in which to do it within the quick time period. The issue is, the 28-year-old Whittaker would have a excessive likelihood of shedding to each fighters. He’d be uncovered as a faux by them.
Whittaker is a good home expertise, however he’s not proven the form of means as a professional or beginner that means he would beat the 27-year-old Morrell (12-1, 9 KOs) or the previous WBC mild heavyweight champion Gvozdyk (21-2, 17 KOs). Nonetheless, if the concept is to show Whittaker right into a star in America, matching him towards these two is the way in which to fast-track that purpose.
Hearn isn’t going to show Whittaker right into a star by being sly about it, matching him towards lesser U.S fighters, hoping to take a backdoor route to creating a giant title out of him in America. We’ve seen the matchmaking Hearn has carried out along with his previous American Matchroom fighters, like Shakur Stevenson, placing him in with an electrician, Josh Padley, maybe hoping to impress U.S followers. It didn’t work. People didn’t like what they noticed.
“There’s going to be quite a lot of stress from DAZN within the UK to maintain him over right here as a result of he does huge numbers. However they’ve received to purchase into improvement as effectively. However I believe he’d do very well in America. He has a large fanbase there already socially,” stated promoter Eddie Hearn to Ring Journal about Ben Whittaker’s subsequent combat after blowing out Benjamin Gavazi in a single spherical final Saturday night time.
How U.S. Followers Understand UK-Based mostly Gentle Heavyweights
If Hearn retains Whittaker within the UK, he’ll be considered by American audiences as a domestic-level fighter alongside the identical strains as Anthony Yarde, Joshua Buatsi, Callum Smith, and Willy Hutchinson. Apparently, these are fighters that Hearn is worked up about matching Whittaker towards, which suggests he’s going to be only a UK-type fighter, and never considered as true world-class. U.S followers’d view him as an even bigger model of Conor Benn, a man that’s seen as a YouTuber-type of fighter.
“I believe they’d [Americans] love his fashion and his showmanship. Yeah, it could swimsuit us to combat an American opponent. We’ll see who that may be. There’s so many fights to be made. Everyone seems to be speaking about Buatsi, Yarde, Callum, and Benavidez is looking him out. We’re not going to be in need of opponents.
Evaluating the Safer U.S. Names for Whittaker
- Richard ‘Popeye The Sailor Man’ Rivera
- Deon Nicholson
- Najee Lopez
“We simply received to get it proper with Ben. He’d had 11 fights. He’s a celebrity within the making. He’s a worldwide expertise. We’ve received to get the expertise earlier than we make the large gamble,” stated Hearn.
The Age Drawback: Practically 29 and Nonetheless Being Protected
Whittaker is nearing 29 years previous, and that’s not younger for a fighter who remains to be being matched fastidiously by a promoter. He’s older than the 27-year-old Morrell, who’s already a former two-division world champion with solely 13 professional fights. If Whittaker isn’t the true factor, it’s ineffective for Hearn to maneuver him across the harmful predators at 175. He can’t be protected into his 30s from the wolves, like Morrell, David Benavidez, Gvozdyk, and Imam Khataev.
Final Up to date on 11/30/2025
