Ben Whittaker promises that ring rust, critics and challenges won’t stop him proving himself in the pros | Boxing News

Ben Whittaker hasn’t had a professional fight yet, but he’s already being called out.

John Docherty, who beat the Darlaston man in the amateur sport, has welcomed the possibility of a professional rematch. It’s a challenge the Olympic silver medallist would happily meet.

“I hate losing. You saw it at the Olympics, if I could get the win back, of course I would love that,” Whittaker said.

“But it’s not one I’ve really looked at or planned – ‘oh I want to get him back’ and this and that, and we’re at different weights. If it comes up, I’d love to get the win of course and know that I got the last win.”

He tasted defeat a year ago in the Olympic light-heavyweight final against brilliant Cuban Arlen Lopez. It’s a sensation he never wants to experience again as a boxer.

“If I’m playing FIFA with my mates, table tennis, you name it, it’s just the reaction I’ve had since I was a little kid – I hate losing,” he said.

“You watch the Olympics, you watch people’s journeys and you think that could be me. Each fight I’m getting closer to the gold, closer to the gold and I thought, ‘I’m in the final, it’s going to happen, getting the gold.’ Obviously falling short there was a lot of emotion.

“It was a bittersweet moment because that moment’s opened up this door. A lot of eyes are on me now. It brought me all the promoters wanting to get me. So it was bittersweet. At the end of the day it was a good experience and I was happy I went there.”

Whittaker has attracted plenty of attention without yet throwing a punch in a pro contest. He knows that will divide opinion.

“I’ve got two sides to me,” he said. “Sometimes, I’m not going to lie, I get excited in front of the camera. I’m not media trained or anything.

“Apart from the boxing, I’m a humble guy. I work hard and all I’m trying to do with this boxing game is to change my family’s life. But on the other side Ben Whittaker, “The Surgeon,” “Benzo” whatever you want to call it, that comes out and I get into character and I talk my rubbish. There are two sides to me and the boxing side’s one and then this type of Ben now is the other.”

The talking though is nearly done. The wait is almost over. After dazzling at the Olympic Games a year ago in Tokyo, after recovering from injury, securing a professional deal with BOXXER, at long last on Saturday he will fight for the first time as pro, live on Sky Sports.

He knows too that for all his speed and slick amateur skills, he has to look like a professional fighter as well when he takes on Greg O’Neill in a scheduled six-rounder at the Bournemouth International Centre.

That’s why he linked up with trainer SugarHill Steward, Tyson Fury’s renowned coach, and why he took his pre-fight training camp to Miami. In America not only did he have to dodge an unsettling array of insects and other creatures, he was tested by hard sparring.

“Because I’m the new kid, I’m the English kid, I’ve got this medal so it’s like they’re tapping each other [in sparring] and when I come in they try and kill you!” he said.

“I like that mindset because I think it makes you stronger being around those types of people who don’t mollycoddle you and treat you like the bees knees. It’s going to make you a stronger-minded person. So I think going out your comfort zone is the best thing to do.

“The sparring’s been hard, the heat’s completely different, I’m not used to it. The people are different. All of it is just building up, building my character, building my mindset and I think if you want to be a champion, that’s what you have to do.

“You have to cut the distractions out and make sure it works out for you. But it’s not for everybody, I’m not going to lie. I’d say go and do it but some people they’re just homesick, they like being home and stuff like that. But I think to be a champion that’s what you have to do.”

He promises he’s been adding those additional tools to make him an all-round professional.

“Sugar doesn’t want to completely change me. You see it sometimes, people go to coaches and they lose what they’re good at. That’s why I did go with Sugar because he said I won’t ever change that. I want to still keep your movement, your fluid things like that. There’s a time and a place where you need to stand there and hurt them,” Whittaker said.

“So that’s what I’m going to do. So that’s what I’m going to show on my debut. I’m going to show obviously I can still box but I’ve slowed down a little bit and each shot I’m trying to hurt them now. It’s not a point-scoring game now, it’s a knockout game. Instead of tapping that jab, I’m going to try and drill it through his head!”

Even though he has had a long break from competitive boxing, Whittaker is adamant he’s not going to show any ring rust against O’Neill on Saturday night.

“I shouldn’t say this because down the road people might come back to it,” he added. “But I don’t really believe in ring rust, honestly.

“Just for the simple fact of sparring, the only thing different is the crowd and things like that. The crowd, emotions, nerves, things like that, plays a part. Sharpness, that’s what you learn from your sparring. So to me there was no ring rust, it’s just how will I perform in front of a crowd, how will I perform in front of the cameras.”

The wait for this moment, he promises, has only allowed him to improve. “I live the life,” he insisted. “If I’m not in the gym I’m watching boxing, so I’m always learning, always getting better.

“I just got better, got stronger and I’m ready to go now.”

The biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing – Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall – is live on Sky Sports on Saturday, September 10. Be part of history and buy tickets for the London showdown here.