Ben Whittaker Talks Toughest Test Yet, U.S. Interest, and Saudi Return on October 12

On Saturday, October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the 2020 Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker (8-0, 5 KOs) will return to action, facing Liam Cameron (23-6, 10 KOs) on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol undercard. Ahead of Whittaker-Cameron, “The Surgeon” has spoken to Instant Casino about his build-up to October 12, U.S. interest and hopes for the future.

Ben Whittaker Prepares for Next Fight Against Liam Cameron

Ben Whittaker Reveals Plans for a U.S. Breakthrough

Whittaker is preparing to face the experienced Cameron on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard and during the interview was asked how his build-up to the fight has been: “Yeah it’s been great. I’ve been training here in my new place, my new gym kitted out by RPM and Everlast. So for me this is my new hub, my new home and this is where the work goes in. HopefullyI’ll be the gym’s first world champion.”

“The Surgeon” has fought in Saudi Arabia before, comfortably outpointing Petar Nosic in his second professional contest. The West Midlands native was asked if he thinks Cameron will be the toughest test of his career: “As a professional, yes, but not out of my whole career. I think if you look at my amateur career I fought some real killers to be honest.”

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He continued: “At the top, top level of amateurs there’s some real killers from the likes of Cuba, Kazakhstan, Russia. A lot of people think, ‘oh it’s just amateurs’ but it’s 10-9 scoring, no headguards and it’s very tough, so while this fight is tough on paper, I believe that if I go in there with the right gameplan and the right me on the right night, I’ll make it look easy.”

The unbeaten 27-year-old was asked whether he’d be aiming for a knockout on October 12, after his last two wins went the distance: “Of course! Everybody wants a knockout. If I was sitting here saying I didn’t want a KO, I’d be lying. But for me, I could be sitting here saying I lost those last two fights.”

He added: “So as long as I’m winning, I’m winning and when you keep winning your name keeps growing. So for me a win is all I want and a win is all I need.”

American Breakthrough and Future Plans

During the interview, Whittaker was asked about reported interest from stateside: “Yeah, we just released a documentary on YouTube called 48 Hours with Ben Whittaker in NYC. We sat down with NBC which is like America’s Sky TV. They’re so big they’ve got the WWE, NFL you name it.”

“They’re really excited for the future but if you don’t get the next fight right, the future gets cancelled for me. So the plan is to focus on the next fight and then there should be something exciting in the pipeline for everybody,” said “The Surgeon.”

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He was then asked about possible domestic clashes against fighters such as Anthony Yarde and Lyndon Arthur, Whittaker said: “I think if you’re at the weight you need to fight those people. There’s a lot of politics to it. There’s timing. They might have different fights, they might have different schedules, they might have different lineups. So for me, all I can do is stay on my path really, keep fighting who’s in front of me, keep beating who’s in front of me and the more my popularity grows, the more people will want to fight me.”