Commentator Spencer Oliver says light heavyweight contender Ben Whittaker must show X-rays to prove he was injured when he fell outside the ring in the fifth round of his fight against Liam Cameron last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Oliver feels that Whittaker has been exposed, and many fans believe he laid low to avoid being knocked out by 33-year-old Cameron.
Whittaker (8-0-1, 5 KOs) was unable to continue the fight, which went badly for him as he tumbled out of the ring. He had to be taken out of the arena in a wheelchair. He apparently suffered a sprained ankle in the fall.
The fight went badly for 2020 Olympic silver medalist Whittaker from the third when he was hit hard by the heavy-handed Cameron (23-6-1, 10 KOs), who was not expected to be competitive. .
In the fifth round, Whittaker appeared to be holding on to Cameron and leaning on him as the two were against the ropes, sending both fighters tumbling outside the ring. Whitaker stayed and was unable to continue fighting. The match went to the scorecards with the judges scoring it:
– 58-57 – Cameron
– 58-57 – Whittaker
– 58-58
“I said, ‘We need to see the X-rays,'” Spencer Oliver said talkSport Boxing about wanting to see the X-rays of Ben Whittaker’s injured ankle. “On the surface of it, he could have swallowed. He was exposed in many ways that night. It started to go horribly wrong for him, and you thought, ‘Where’s that technical ability to turn it around?’
“Ben Whittaker has to show the evidence, the X-rays, to show that he actually has (an injury). If he doesn’t, it’s going to be a grand jury. We talked about him being a superstar. He had everything it took outside the ring, inside the ring.”
Whittaker should have already shown an X-ray or produced a doctor’s note to confirm his ankle injury so that fans would not have doubts.
“Cameron won the battle. I think Ben got away with the score very lightly. Was he exposed, and did he swallow it? He kind of unraveled really quickly. He was dragged into a dogfight. In the fifth round, when they were against the ropes, it was like a WWE. He pulled him out of the ring,” Oliver said.
Obviously there has to be a rematch because Whittaker can’t walk away from this fight without showing that he can beat this guy.
