WHITTAKER RETURNS AS A WORLD TITLE SHOT BECKONS

One of the most charismatic, entertaining and talented boxers on the planet returns to action this Saturday night as Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker takes on Australia’s adopted Northern Irishman Conor Wallace in a final eliminator for Dmitry Bivol’s IBF World Light-Heavyweight Title.

The two highest-ranked contenders in the IBF at 175lbs, with Wallace ranked at #2 and Whittaker ranked at #3, will go head-to-head, with the winner becoming Bivol’s mandatory challenger. However, as Bivol recently fought and beat his IBF mandatory challenger, Michael Eifert, the pair may have to hope the Russian vacates the title if they want to get a crack at the IBF belt any time soon.

Since turning professional back in July 2022, Whittaker’s career has been a little stop-start through no fault of his own.

Injuries and promotional issues have halted his progress, but since signing with Matchroom almost a year ago to the day, he’s gone from strength to strength.

Three fights, three knockouts and just eight minutes of ring time combined across those three fights — he’s really starting to show the potential as a professional that many believed he had when he turned over four years ago.

Along with his link-up with Matchroom, he’s now under the tutelage of former world champion Andy Lee, and the pair look like a match made in heaven.

With gym-mates such as Hamzah Sheeraz, Paddy Donovan and Joseph Parker, Lee is slowly starting to build one of the best stables in the sport, and understandably so when you take into account his level of expertise.

On Saturday night, Whittaker comes up against a man who grew up just 90 minutes north of his Ballybrack base in Newry.

An Ulster Light-Heavyweight champion in the unpaid ranks, Wallace moved to Australia in 2018 to turn professional after being dropped from Northern Ireland’s squad for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

He has been based out of Brisbane ever since and has built an impressive record of 17 wins and one defeat from 18 fights, avenging the only loss on his record against hard-hitting Samoan Leti Leti back in 2022.

The tricky southpaw has stopped six of his last eight opponents, so he goes into his fight with Whittaker full of confidence and momentum as he looks to pull off a big upset on away soil.

In terms of the fight, it’s by some distance the toughest test of Whittaker’s career so far and, likewise, the toughest test of Wallace’s career.

Both were very good amateurs and both have, over time, transitioned into the professional ranks extremely well, but now this is their opportunity to stamp their authority as one of the biggest contenders in the light-heavyweight division.

Despite having had just five more fights, Wallace has 35 more rounds of experience, and he’s going to need to use that to his advantage as much as he can.

The Northern Irishman has boxed five or more rounds on 10 occasions so far in his career, whilst Whittaker has been past five rounds just four times, so that experience in the latter part of the fight may prove crucial.

You may think that Wallace’s southpaw style could cause Whittaker problems, but considering the Englishman has one of Ireland’s greatest-ever southpaws in his corner in Andy Lee and has beaten top-quality southpaws in the amateurs, such as John Docherty and John Joyce, that shouldn’t cause him too many problems.

He’s stopped his last four opponents inside two rounds, so that lack of ring time is a concern, but Ben Whittaker is an extremely special fighter who has all the tools, inside and outside of the ring, to become a global superstar.

With Wallace usually the trickier fighter when he fights, Whittaker needs to beat Wallace at his own game, outmanoeuvre him and frustrate him.

Ben’s one-punch power is becoming more and more visible every time he steps into the ring as a professional, and Australia’s adopted Northern Irishman will be well aware of that early on. He’ll look to drag the fight as deep as possible, but if Whittaker sticks with him and doesn’t tire, it could be a long night for Wallace.

What would a statement win for Ben Whittaker look like?

Well, considering this is the best opponent of his career, a win of any type will do, as long as he looks good doing it. If he manages to get the stoppage win, then that’s big, but if he does it early, it may just be enough evidence for Eddie, Andy and the team to throw him into a world title clash in early 2027.

In terms of the undercard, it’s an absolute cracker.

The supremely talented flyweight Hamza Uddin looks to pick up the British & Commonwealth titles in just his eighth fight as a professional, whilst the outspoken Bilal Fawaz aims to make a successful second defence of his British Super-Welterweight Title against Eithan James.

Spider Sulaimaan faces off with Sonny Hardy for the English Super-Featherweight Title, while Aaron Bowen aims to pick up the first title of his professional career when he challenges Klinton Baptiste for his Midlands Area Super-Middleweight Title.

We’ll witness the highly anticipated debut of future Scouse superstar Odel Kamara, along with fellow prospects Harley Burrows, Adam Maca and Paige Murney, who all return to the ring.

A fantastic night of British boxing with three title fights and a world title eliminator — it’s not to be missed!