Eddie Hearn raved about Ben Whittaker following his first round knockout victory over Benjamin Gavazi on Saturday night in Birmingham, England.
After the win, Matchroom promoter Hearn said he believed light heavyweight contender Whittaker (10-0-1, 7 KOs) could “one of the best fighters the country (UK) has ever produced.”
A real measure that would immediately show whether the 28-year-old Whittaker is the real deal would be Hearn starting to match up against these contenders:
- David Morrell
- Imam Khataev
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk
- Artur Beterbiev
These fighters will show whether Whittaker will emerge as a future star. He’s approaching 29 years old, and how long does Hearn want to keep treating him like a prospect? When a fighter has Olympic experience, and they’re approaching 30, it’s pointless to match them against the soft opposition that one would with a younger prospect without a big amateur background.
This is of course assuming that the promoter is not trying to manufacture a fake star just to make money. If the focus is to create a pseudo-star based on hype, this is the best way to match them up against fighters like Gavazi.
Hearn’s prediction caused some laughter among fans, as Whittaker’s opponent, Gavazi (19-2, 13 KOs), is not world class. He’s someone Eddie found for the occasion, but he doesn’t have any notable fights or wins to make him a good measure of Whittaker’s potential.
“He’s the easiest guy in the world to promote. He’s a genius at what he does,” promoter Eddie Hearn told the media over Ben Whittaker after his win over Benjamin Gavazi. “He just needs to do a bit more on the organic media side rather than just digital.
“The massive following, the brand. It’s all great. I’m interested in the fight, and done right, I think he could be one of the best fighters the country has ever produced. I believe he can be a world champion at 175 lbs. He only had 11 fights. The pressure will be to step up, and we need to step up accordingly,” Hearn said.
It sounds ridiculous for Hearn to predict a future for Whittaker to become one of the “best fighters” the UK has seen when he is just two fights removed from what looked like a job against Liam Cameron. If Whittaker was fighting Morrell, Khataev, David Benavidez, Dmitry Bivol and Beterbiev, one could understand why Hearn is upset with him.
But Gavazi looked awful tonight, and his resume is barren of names. Where on earth did Hearn find him, and why did he use him as the opponent for a 2020 Olympic silver medalist? What was his rationale?
“Everybody in the world is going to be calling out Ben Whittaker because he’s going to end up being the money in the division. There’s literally a dozen fighters that we could potentially match him with, and we’re doing it at our own pace,” Hearn said.
Last updated on 29/11/2025
