Eddie Hearn has revealed he personally told Ben Whittaker, the man he thinks could become Britain’s next Anthony Joshua, to sign for Boxxer back in 2022.
The 28-year-old from West Bromwich will finally make his debut under the Matchroom banner on Saturday night after spending the first 10 fights of his professional career with Ben Shalom and Boxxer.
Almost every major promoter in the world wanted to sign Whittaker, a genuine blue chip prospect, following his silver medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Matchroom thought they had won the race and even filmed an announcement video with him at their headquarters in Essex.
Now Matchroom chairman Hearn says he was forced to advise Whittaker to head for Boxxer three years ago because they simply could not match the offer financially.
“Don’t forget, we filmed a promo with him when he turned pro,” Hearn tells The Ring.
“We agreed everything, he’s throwing money in the air and everything for this video and I’m thinking ‘we’ve got one here’.
“But then Shalom came in with this deal. They told us about it and said they couldn’t say no. After hearing what they offered him I just said: ‘Mate you have to just grab it’.
“But then, when we got the email from the lawyers earlier this year to say he’s officially out it felt like a dream move waiting to happen. Everybody wanted to sign him but as a team we got it done.”
Since making his debut in July 2022, Whittaker has had 10 fights, all with Boxxer, the last of which was his victory over Liam Cameron in their April 20 rematch.
The light-heavyweight had concerns that Boxxer’s new deal with the BBC might affect his activity and instead decided to jump ship and join Matchroom more than three years after that infamous promo video.
His first fight with them takes place on Saturday night when he headlines Birmingham’s BP Pulse Arena against Germany’s Benjamin Gavazi (19-1, 13 KOs) live on DAZN.
“The reality for Ben is if he’s the guy we think he is,” Hearn said. “He has to look sensational on Saturday and I believe he will do. If this goes well, then he will be back out in February.
“You’ve got to get him right, get him locked in and dialled. One of the problems I feel like he was having before he signed with us is I don’t think he had a plan or a real schedule.
“I think it was just like ‘right, you’re fighting in six weeks’. ‘Oh, right, speak to you in five months’ and then he’s out for five months. Whereas, this time we know he’s fighting in November and then February time, maybe in America. Then come back in the summer to headline. There is a plan and a schedule.”
So at what point in that plan does Hearn expect Whittaker, 28, to be challenging at the top of his division?
“I would say give us between three and five fights,” he says.
“It depends who the champions are though because you might have Michael Eifert fighting Conor Wallace for the vacant IBF title and we would take that fight next.
“But when you’re talking about Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev or David Benavidez then that’s more like five fights. Those guys are the goal but I see it as three levels in that division.
“First you’ve got domestic guys like Craig Richards, Dan Azeez, Zach Parker and Willy Hutchinson. Then second you’ve got guys like Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde then top level is Bivol, Beterbiev and Benavidez. Right now we are approaching that bottom tier.
“In 2026, he steps up to the next level and he will be ready, he’s only 10 fights in whereas all those guys have had dozens of fights. But because of the way Ben fights, people ask why he’s not fighting those guys now – we’ve got something very special – let’s take our time and navigate it the right way.
“Everyone keeps saying to me, who’s the next British boxing star? When you talk about AJ, Naz [Hamed] and Amir Khan, people like that, I believe that Ben can be of that mould.”
