Will Whittaker Choke Again? Cameron II Set For April 20th

Light heavyweight Ben Whittaker (8-0-1, 5 KOs) faces veteran Liam Cameron (23-6-1, KOs) in a rematch two months from now on April 20th at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.

It’s unclear why the two are even bothering for a rematch because Whittaker, 27, showed that he wanted out of their previous fight when he grabbed Cameron, causing the two out of the ring in the sixth round. Whittaker claimed he’d hurt his ankle and leg during the fall, but fans suspected that he’d faked it and just wanted out of the fight.

Flop Watch

The fight showed that the 2020 Olympic silver Whittaker can’t handle pressure and hard shots. It was the same thing we saw from him in his loss to Cuba’s Arlen Lopez. When attacked hard by the Cuban talent, Whittaker melted like butter. What we saw in the Cameron fight was identical to the Olympic matchup with Lopez. Whittaker went to pieces when he started getting walked down by Cameron, who ignored the junk showboating moves by the lanky, stork-like fighter and hit him hard to the head and body.

Outside the ring, Whittaker talks a big game, but he was pure jelly against Arlen Lopez and Liam Cameron. He looked scared in both fights. In between rounds, you could see that Whittaker was desperate for help, looking at his corner for instructions to bail him out in those fights. There was nothing his trainer could do other than to bark instructions that Whittaker didn’t follow.

Is He Worth It?

Whittaker’s promoter is making a mistake by choosing to take the rematch with Cameron because this guy is all wrong. He has the wrong style, he hits too hard, and he has a toughness about him that Whittaker can’t handle. If Whittaker’s promoters are looking at this fight as a decider whether to keep him or dump him as useless baggage, the rematch makes sense. It’s a good test to decide whether Whittaker is worth keeping on.

If I were Whittaker’s promoter, I’d have dumped him immediately after the Cameron fight. I’d have seen all I needed to from that clash and from his meltdown against Arlen Lopez in the Olympics to know that he’s a waste of time. He’s not built to handle pressure and pain.