Ring Fall in Riyadh: More Drama Unfolds for Ben Whittaker

It has become a regular occurrence in the modern-day sport of boxing for fight cards to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as they continue to pivot their reputation, and national economy, away from purely having oil as a focus, but it seems that Riyadh is also not averse to having a bizarre instance occur and boxing fans saw just that as Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron both somehow ended up going over the top rope as their bout ended unexpectedly.

Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron’s Unlikely Draw

Whittaker’s Injuries and the Aftermath

It was certainly not the conclusion that anyone had expected, and the fight ultimately ended up as a draw after the incident that saw them both crash out of the ring towards the end of the fifth round. The 27-year-old 2020 silver Olympic medal winner, and current IBF international light heavyweight champion, Whittaker bore the brunt of the fall after the two had tussled and suffered a sprained ankle – and it was confirmed that he was set for further assessments on an aggravated neck injury that he had also sustained.

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Watchers on will know that Whittaker, having been unable to get up after the fall with Cameron unfortunately left sprawled on top of him, left the arena in a wheelchair and was immediately taken to hospital for scans and full assessments. For those fans who had a dabble on sports betting sites about the outcome of this encounter, nobody would have bet on that being the outcome.

With a technical decision split draw being the official result, and with neither fighter seemingly suffering a major injury that will keep them from the ring for an extended period of time, Cameron has already gone on the record as calling for a future rematch. Whilst he was adamant that he had done enough across the five rounds to take the win outright, and described Whittaker as ‘the golden boy’ and favourite, he was clear that he ultimately wanted their contest to go the distance and give a clear result so both could move on in their careers.

After Fight Drama

Whittaker, however, was not quite finished for the weekend and also clashed with a fan at the King Khalid International Airport, as he was not in the mood for fan photos as he was in the process of taking a flight back to Heathrow.

Having urged the fan to refrain from snapshots, he is said to have grabbed the phone off him and smashed it as tempers flared. It is further alleged that it looked like he was set to throw a punch before one of his team stepped in and security ushered him away. It is very much described as a storm in a teacup though, as apparently the pair quickly calmed and ultimately parted on good terms, with Whittaker offering to replace the phone.

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He himself described it as an ‘unfortunate’ event and was thankful that the chap was happy to sit down, talk and accept his apology. In confirming the offer to replace the phone, he also stated that they would remain in touch and would organise for him to come along to a future event as his guest.