“I’ve Expanded My Reach”: Ben Whittaker On Fame, Fighting And Becoming British Boxing’s Next Behemoth

A maverick in the ring and a larger-than-life personality outside of it, the 28-year-old is British boxing’s new poster boy. Recently signed to Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, the West Midlands-native has the charisma, craft and confidence to take him to the sport’s summit.

Boxing is a sport, a skill, a discipline. A shot at incomparable glory. But above all, it’s entertainment. Those at the top tend to be – or grow to be, at least – mercurial, a showman, born for the biggest stages. Your Tyson Fury’s, your Mike Tyson’s, your Floyd Mayweather’s. Pure box office. 

Ben Whittaker, the British light heavyweight fighter leading the sport’s current crop of rising stars, fits the mould. It’s clear from spending an afternoon with him that his ambition is untainted and his attitude knows no shackles. He speaks about his career – an Olympic Silver Medalist and a, so far, unbeaten professional record – with a confidence that borders on blasé. “Truth is, I didn’t like it at first,” the 28-year-old admits about his now beloved passion with a wry smirk. He is sitting in the 2×3 Boxing Gym in Aldgate, a few weeks before Christmas, taking some time for a tête-à-tête following his Man About Town shoot. The Walsall-native’s thick ‘Brummie’ accent dances with intonation as he reminisces on his boxing origins. 

“My dad took me down to the gym to burn some energy off. I thought it was okay, something to do after school, I suppose. Then the coach said, ‘We’ve got a home show in two to three weeks in West Brom. Who wants to fight on it?’ I said I would. I did the medical. Came home and said, ‘I’m fighting.’ My dad didn’t think I was ready, but said we’d see how it goes. And so I went out there, just messing around, Ali shuffling. The next day, before school, my dad wakes me up. ‘We’re going for a run.’ So he must have seen something good in that first fight. And I’ve never looked back. But really, it was just having a routine; it was never about, ‘I’m gonna make it.’  

For Whittaker, routine was key to navigating his talent throughout a happy if at times difficult childhood. Growing up in Wednesbury, a less-than-affluent area in England’s West Midlands, his parents both worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. It was his older brother – who spent years in the Royal Marines and is now his personal trainer – who proved a key inspiration. “He played for Birmingham  [City Football Academy], but then got to a certain age where girls, friends, and all that came along. And he took the wrong path and had to join the Royal Marines. I saw him go through that and it made me think, ‘If I’ve got the skill, let’s try it out.’” 

Something clicked in a young Whittaker at 15 or 16 years old. He knuckled down, put all of his energy and focus into the sport for which he had a natural aptitude, and his hard work paid dividends. He was recruited by Team GB to join their squad of elite amateur British fighters, who are given the facilities and training to potentially participate in the biggest tournaments across the world and to go on to turn professional. “Then, I started getting paid,” he grins. “I was thinking, ‘You get paid for this? I’ve been doing it for free my whole life.’ So that kind of opened up my eyes, and I thought, ‘Let’s give it a proper go.’”  

For an amateur boxer in Britain, representing Team GB is the ideal launchpad to kickstart your career, where your skills are put in the shop window for potential investors to survey. At first, having to maintain a standard of etiquette that was a far cry from his familiar experiences was undoubtedly a culture shock for Whittaker. “I come from this normal gym in Wednesbury, and then next thing I know, I’m getting woken up at six in the morning to check my weight every day,” he remembers. “There are people from different backgrounds, from up north, down south, Wales, Scotland. You travel the world, boxing. One thing I knew – whoever did make it [professional] was disciplined. So that’s what I made sure I was. I didn’t go down there to mess around or take the piss. I went down there to train hard. When I looked at the wall, I’d see the Amir Khan medal, see the Anthony Joshua medal. I’d look at them and think, ‘If I can get on that wall, I’ll be something.’ And I ended up on the wall.”

It was a peculiar time in the world in 2021 when Whittaker stepped off a plane in Tokyo with hopes of being crowned the best in the world in his weight class. It was supposed to be the 2020 Summer Olympics, but due to the global pandemic raging across the globe, the universally competed multi-sport event was postponed to the following summer. Even then, it was less about experiencing the infamous Olympic village and wholly about performing at your pinnacle with no distractions. “If you win, you get to the next round; if you lose, you get sent straight home. So I thought, ‘I ain’t going home yet. I want to try and get as far as I can.’” 

The writing was on the wall for Whittaker to succeed at the tournament. He’s got a well-documented fascination with Japanese culture, from fashion to food and anime, and the stars certainly aligned for the fighter. He came home with a Silver Medal in the light heavyweight category – one of 64 UK medals as the nation finished an impressive fourth in the overall standings, an achievement he unsurprisingly considers his finest to date. The win was more than just momentary glory for Whittaker, though: he signed a professional deal with BOXXER and set about rising his weight class’s food chain. 

In the years since his Olympic triumph, Whittaker has trained with legends like Tyson Fury’s trainer Sugarhill Stewart and now Irish ex-fighter Andy Lee, and, in the backend of 2025, signed a new deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing – his fights now exclusively shown on sports streaming giant DAZN. “I’ve expanded my reach,” he assures me.

In the ring, he is unbeaten in 11 professional fights so far – 10 wins and a draw. Even the one tie, against fellow Brit Liam Cameron, was quickly rectified, knocking his nemesis out in the second round at a rematch fight seven months later. He’s been unstoppable of late, most recently in late November, a few weeks before our conversation, dispatching Benjamin Gavazi, the towering, previously unbeaten German, within the first round in scintillating, sobering fashion. 

“I was expecting a tough fight,” he says. “[Gavazi] was coming to win, and if I were in his position, I know that winning could change my life. And I could see that that’s what kind of energy he was bringing. I knew that I was gonna have to just show my level. I thought it might take a couple of rounds, but I will get the job done. But as soon as I hurt him with the first combination, I knew I couldn’t let him off. And then that ending was crazy.”

Watching a Whittaker fight is unlike any other modern boxing match. He describes himself as “unique” and “very elusive,” especially true considering his lanky six-foot-two frame. Nicknamed ‘The Surgeon’, he has become known for his distinctive flair, lightning speed, and crafty showboating. Critics call him arrogant and disrespectful. The rest of us see it as a natural flamboyance; a character leading his story and playing the hero, or villain, depending on how you see the situation. 

That last fight, his first to a global audience on DAZN, felt a little different. In previous bouts, he’d play up to the occasion, interacting with the audience and taunting his opponent as he’d avoid angry jabs and heavy punches with his bolt-like reactions, tarrying until a blockbuster moment to strike. But against Gavazi, there wasn’t so much as a smile or a jig. There was no desire to perform for the camera. He went there to finish the job as quickly as possible; a show of his increasing maturity, now settled into his seat as one of Matchroom and Britain’s immovable forces.

So what does he want from this? Where can boxing take him? Of course, he’s ambitious about where he can get to in the world of fighting, but more than anything, his success and forthcoming riches are motivated by paying back his family and parents for bringing him up to be the man he is now. “A lot of people don’t like to mention money, but money helps. It helps my family. I come from a house where we didn’t have much. I wouldn’t say I’m the man of the house, but I’m in a position where I can provide for everybody. That keeps me motivated.”

Beneath his hardened outer shell, ringside bravado and formidable craftsmanship, Ben Whittaker has a sensitive side. “I’m probably too nice at times,” he thinks. “I try to look after people too much or sometimes I might take things to heart in a certain way.” He’s a boxer with bite, a bankable Britishness. And, a face made for fame; as more challenges in the ring ensue this year, keeping it that way remains his prerogative. “You want to be able to spend your money after,” he says cheekily as we wrap up our mental sparring. “So that’s what I’m trying to do: keep my looks intact, keep my brain intact.”