Benjamin Whittaker

Benjamin G. Whittaker (born 6 June 1997) is an English professional boxer who has held the IBF International light-heavyweight title since June 2024. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Whittaker was born to an English-Austrian mother and a Jamaican father.

Amateur career

In 2018, he was picked to represent England in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which took place in Australia's Gold Coast.

In 2019, he was selected to compete at the World Championships in Yekaterinburg, Russia, where he won the bronze medal after losing by unanimous decision to Dilshodbek Ruzmetov in the semi-finals.

In 2021, at the men's light-heavyweight category at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Whittaker won the silver medal against Arlen Lopez, who won gold.

Whittaker tweeted, "You don't win silver, you lose gold. I'm very disappointed - I feel like a failure."

Distraught from falling short of gold, he refused to wear the medal at the ceremony; however, he vowed he would return to win gold, saying: "I'll come back, trust me."

Whittaker's passionate reaction drew mixed reactions, but most people were empathetic of Whittaker's reaction. English media personality Piers Morgan tweeted: "Love this - finally, an athlete at these Olympics prepared to tell the truth about competing in elite sport. Good for you @BenGWhittaker".

His amateur record stands at 53–13.

Professional career

In 2022 he signed a professional deal with Boxxer, training with SugarHill Steward.

2024

On 3 February 2024 at Wembley Arena in London, Whittaker defeated Khalid Graidia via fifth round TKO.

On 31 March 2024, Whittaker fought at The O2 Arena in London, England on the undercard of a British heavyweight title fight between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke. He fought Leon Willings, and beat him via unanimous decision.

On 15 June 2024, Whittaker won the IBF International light-heavyweight title after defeating 12–0 Ezra Arenyeka by unanimous decision.

On 12 October 2024, Whittaker made his first defence of his IBF International light-heavyweight title against Liam Cameron on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol. During the bout both boxers became entangled as Whittaker pulled Cameron towards the ropes, resulting in them tumbling over and Whittaker being forced to withdraw due to a feigned injury. The fight subsequently went to the judges' scorecards, as per the rules of the British Boxing Board of Control, with both boxers receiving a 58–57 score respectively as well as a 58–58 score, resulting in a split decision technical draw. Two days after the fight, Whittaker was detained by airport security at King Khalid International Airport, after he smashed the phone of a fan who had asked him for a photo. A witness alleged that Whittaker had said: "'Don't take no photos of me' and snatched the phone out of [the fan's] hand and smashed it straight on the floor."