Hearn Calls Whittaker A UK Great After Easy KO Win

Eddie Hearn raved about Ben Whittaker following his first-round knockout win over Benjamin Gavazi on Saturday night in Birmingham, England.

After the victory, Matchroom promoter Hearn said he believes light heavyweight contender Whittaker (10-0-1, 7 KOs) can be “one of the best fighters the country [UK] has ever produced.” 

A real gauge that would show immediately if the 28-year-old Whittaker is the real thing would be for Hearn to begin matching him against these contenders:

• David Morrell
• Imam Khataev
• Oleksandr Gvozdyk
• Artur Beterbiev

Those fighters would show whether Whittaker is going to pan out as a future star. He’s approaching 29 years old, and how long does Hearn want to keep treating him like a prospect? When a fighter has Olympic experience, and they’re approaching 30, it’s pointless to match them against the soft opposition one would do with a younger prospect without a great amateur background.

Of course, that’s assuming the promoter isn’t trying to manufacture a fake star solely to make money. If the focus is to create a pseudo-star based on hype, matching them against fighters like Gavazi is the way to go.

Hearn’s prediction caused some laughter among fans, given that Whittaker’s opponent, Gavazi (19-2, 13 KOs), is not world-class. He’s someone Eddie found for the event, but he has no notable fights or victories to make him a good gauge of Whittaker’s potential.

“He’s the easiest guy to promote in the world. He’s a genius at what he does,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to the media about Ben Whittaker after his win over Benjamin Gavazi. “He just needs to do a little bit more on the organic media side rather than just digitally.

“The massive following, the brand. That’s all great. I’m interested in the fighting, and done right, I think he can be one of the best fighters the country has ever produced. I believe he can be a world champion at 175 lbs. He has had only 11 fights. The pressure will be on to step up, and we have to step up accordingly,” said Hearn.

It sounds ridiculous for Hearn to predict a future of Whittaker becoming one of the “best fighters” the UK has seen when he’s only two fights removed from what appeared to be a quit job against Liam Cameron. If Whittaker was running the gauntlet against Morrell, Khataev, David Benavidez, Dmitry Bivol, and Beterbiev, one could understand why Hearn is all amped up about him.

But Gavazi looked horrible tonight, and his resume is barren of names. Where on Earth did Hearn find him, and why did he use him as the opponent for a 2020 Olympic silver medalist? What was his rationale?

“Everyone in the world is going to call out Ben Whittaker because he’s going to end up being the money in the division. There are literally a dozen fighters we can potentially match him with, and we do that at our own pace,” said Hearn.