Rewind to October, and Ben Whitaker was “exposed” in his fight with Liam Cameron, the flashy, cocksure Whitaker being carried out of the ring and out of the fight, this after both men took a tumble over the top rope when wrestling in a clinch. Whitaker injured his ankle, yet the critics – his ring rival Cameron firmly amongst them – said Whitaker took the easy way out, this in a fight that was beginning to get too tough for him. In the end, the final decision was a technical draw.
Some have compared Whitaker to Naseem Hamed because of his showboating moves and attitude in the ring. Whitaker knows he needs to get back in with Cameron to put things right and prove that, yes, he can handle a tough fight and come through to win.
Cameron said Whitaker would have been stopped had the fight continued. Now, Whitaker says that the rematch must happen so he can “right the wrong.” Cameron has doubts that Whitaker will actually fight him a second time, but Whitaker says he absolutely will box him again.
“I want it. I think it’s the right next thing,” Whitaker said to Sky Sports. “I don’t make excuses – I went to the Olympics with a torn rotator cuff, and no one heard me mention it before, no one really heard me mention it after, so I’m not going to start [saying] ‘Oh, my ankle.’ It happens. I couldn’t continue, but when I go and beat him in the next fight, I’ll have a lot to say then.”
If it happens, the rematch will be a far bigger fight than the first bout, and Whitaker, 8-0-1(5), has it all to prove this time. Cameron, 23-6-1(10), who has shared a ring with some proven light heavyweights, feels Whitaker wanted a way out and found one. Whitaker says he did suffer a painful injury due to the spill from the ring.
Hopefully, this fight will happen sometime in the first half of next year. Call it unfinished business, or call it repeat or revenge, but the fight has to happen. Until he does right this wrong, if he can, in fact, do so, the memory of the October fight with Cameron will continue to haunt Whitaker, fueling his critics.
Who wins, and how, if/when Whitaker and Cameron meet again?
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