BEN WHITTAKER REVEALS WHY HE HAD TO LEAVE BOXXER
Matchroom new boy Ben Whittaker insists he had little choice but to leave Boxxer due to their lack of regular dates.
It was announced earlier this month that 28-year-old Whittaker (9-0-1, 6 KOs) had signed a long-term promotional deal with Matchroom after spending the first three years of his professional career with Ben Shalom and Boxxer.
He will fight for the first time under the new banner on November 29 when he takes on Benjamin Gavazi (19-1, 13 KOs) at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre in the first outing of what he hopes will be a busy spell with his new promoter.
Now Whittaker has opened up on his decision to turn his back on Boxxer in order to seek pastures new.
“Things were happening in the sport and I just wanted activity,” he said. “But of course it went a bit quiet so I was gutted.
“I think we all knew we were going to come down his road. I was lucky enough to become a free agent and spoke to everyone and for me Matchroom just gave me the best plan, the best route and they've been there and done it before.
"They've done it with fighters, probably not even with my talent. So I thought I can do it with them, with a bit of guidance I'll be alright.
“Activity is key, elsewhere they couldn’t really do a lot of fights but for me it’s about getting active. I think when you get into that later part of your career where it's like world titles or contending for a world title your career will slow down.
“Whereas this year I've only had one fight, you're not going to learn like that. So for me Matchroom put down a plan where I can do 3-4 fights a year and that's what I needed.”
Whittaker’s departure from Boxxer means he will not be performing on the BBC following the news that Shalom’s company has signed a deal to take professional boxing back to the national broadcaster for the first time in more than 20 years.
However, it is still not clear how many dates they will have annually or whether the licence fees on offer from the BBC will allow them to compete with DAZN, the platform on which Matchroom and Queensberry events are shown.
When asked whether he had to leave Boxxer because he simply could not get enough dates, Whittaker said: “Kind of, yeah, because I’m 28 now and time waits for nobody.
“The way things were going: ‘When am I going to fight? Who am I gonna fight?’ It was just all over the place.
“What [Boxxer] have done for me is great, and I’ll say that to everybody – they helped me out, got me into a great position. At the end of the day it’s just business. You can’t take things personal, but I think we knew, down the line, me and Eddie and Frank Smith would happen, and we’re here now.”
On Boxxer’s BBC deal, he added: “Yeah the platform was great but when I looked into it, it wasn't like BBC One, it was BBC Three.
“I'm not here just for numbers, I'm here to try and make better fights, I'm here to try and get my ranking right, I'm here to try and divert my career into the right way. I've got the numbers already now, my social media's ok, a lot of people know me so armchair fans if they know you or they don't know you doesn't really matter to me now.”
Whittaker has not boxed since he stopped Liam Cameron in the second round of their grudge rematch in Birmingham on April 20. It is his only action since their first fight which took place a year ago this month.
He will draw a line under those seven months out of the ring on November 29 and, incidentally, his headline event with Matchroom will clash with the first Boxxer show of the new BBC era.
Around 40 miles north of Birmingham, Frazer Clarke and Jeamie TKV will meet for the vacant British heavyweight title at Derby’s Vaillant Live Arena. The pair had been scheduled to meet on October 25 until a rib injury to TKV forced a five-week delay meaning a schedule clash with Whittaker on DAZN.
The Surgeon said: “For boxing fans, it's not the best.
“I always used to say to my family ‘why would they do that?’ You want eyes on every event so just try and look for a gap and put it there. There are obviously a lot more gaps [in the schedule] to put it but business is business.
“Personally, I don't think they did it to rub anyone's shoulders, it was probably the only date they could get with the venue. But come on man - only certain people are going to watch Frazer and only certain people are going to watch me.
“If you did it on different days, you could have opened it up to everyone but, boxing is boxing.”
