BoxRec

4pm today.

Managed by Anthony Joshua and trained by Tyson Fury’s trainer SugarHill Steward, Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker puts pen to paper on a professional contract with BOXXER

Following his heroics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, light heavyweight boxer, Ben Whittaker, has signed a professional contract with the promotional company, BOXXER.

Whittaker lost out to Cuba’s Arlen Lopez in the final in Tokyo, but he took home a silver medal to help Team GB Boxing to their biggest medal haul for over a century.

During his Olympic journey, Whittaker captured the hearts of the nation with his outlandish celebrations and wish to become the Mayor of his hometown, Wolverhampton, and his dream came true, as he was allowed to be Mayor for one day after returning from Tokyo.

Whittaker also had his fair share of controversy during the Olympics, as he initially refused to wear his silver medal, saying: “You don’t win silver, you lose gold. I’m very disappointed with myself. I didn’t perform good,” but he later admitted he regretted his actions.

Alongside Lauren Price, Karriss Artingstall, Frazer Clarke and Caroline Dubois, Whittaker is the latest Olympian to join the BOXXER roster.

“Well they always say save the best ‘till last and here I am,” Whittaker said. “I’m very excited to turn this new chapter in my career. It’s an exciting time for me to showcase my skills.

“I’m now looking forward to getting into camp, where I can add and develop to my game. I hope you enjoy the journey because it’s gonna be a crazy one.”

To complete his elite team, Whittaker is managed by two-time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua’s 258 Management and he will be trained by Tyson Fury’s trainer, SugarHill Steward.

Joshua has been a big fan of Whittaker for a while, describing him as a ‘future champion’, and the heavyweight giant continued to sing his praises after the announcement that he had signed for BOXXER.

“Ben is a really special talent with a fantastic amateur pedigree,” Joshua said. “He has had some tough decisions to make whilst turning professional but now finally he’s here!

“Managed by the best team in the game, 258 Management, I think he is ready to set the world boxing scene on fire.

“Everyone get ready for a special journey. Ben is the future PPV star.”

One person best placed to evaluate Whittaker’s ability and prospects as a professional boxer is his trainer, Steward.

“I’m totally thrilled to have been sought out and chosen by Ben Whittaker of the 2020 Olympic Games on Great Britain’s highly talented and dominating boxing team,” he said.

“I consider Ben to be on the talent level of a Roy Jones Jr in transitioning from amateur into a professional World Champion superstar status.”

Right decision I think for him. Sky are clearly throwing big money at the Olympians turning over. Good move working with Sugar Hill too.

Sky still don’t have a big roster so guys like Whittaker can get an awful lot of focus.

Managed by Joshua… trains with Fury.
Sexual.

Press Release

BOXXER has officially announced that they officially reached a promotional agreement with 2020 Olympian Ben Whittaker.

Whittaker was one of the most highly sought-after Olympians to come out of Tokyo, with many wondering when and where he would turn professional.

After an amateur career with plenty of success across international championships, peaking in capturing the world’s attention and a silver medal at the Olympics, Whittaker now looks to reach those same heights in professional boxing.

He joins former teammates Lauren Price, Karriss Artingstall, Frazer Clarke and Caroline Dubois on the BOXXER roster, with the growing promotional company securing most of Team GB Boxing’s Class of 2020 in the professional ranks. Four out of the six medallists from Tokyo have been snagged by BOXXER, who have an exclusive broadcast deal with Sky Sports.

Managed by two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s 258 MGT, Whittaker aims to be the standout member of GB’s glittering 2020 team.

Proud to be born and raised in the midlands, Whittaker cleaned up the domestic amateur boxing scene before medals at the World Championships European Championships in 2019 set up Whittaker’s crowning moment of a silver medal at the 2020 Olympics.

In the professional ranks Whittaker will be trained by SugarHill Steward, the highly regarded trainer of Tyson Fury and several others. SugarHill has notably compared Whittaker’s raw talent to that of Roy Jones Jr.

Whittaker said, “Well they always say save the best ‘till last and here I am, I’m very excited to turn this new chapter in my career! It’s an exciting time for me to showcase my skills! I’m now looking forward to getting into camp, where I can add and develop to my game. I hope you enjoy the journey because it’s gonna be a crazy one!”

BOXXER Founder and CEO Ben Shalom said, “At the start of this partnership with Sky Sports the focus was always in investing in the stars of the future. To sign four out of the six Olympic Medallists is an amazing achievement for BOXXER and with Ben Whittaker we have the biggest future star in British boxing.”

Anthony Joshua, "Ben is a really special talent with a fantastic amateur pedigree. He has had some tough decisions to make whilst turning professional but now finally he’s here!

Managed by the best team in the game, 258 Management, I think he is ready to set the world boxing scene on fire. Everyone get ready for a special journey. Ben is the future PPV star."

UK's next PPV star..

Sky are gonna hype him big.

i found him one of the least viewer friendly olympians tbh

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑22 May 2022, 05:08 i found him one of the least viewer friendly olympians tbh

I did. And a nobhead. I thought he lost 2 bouts yet was swanning around like he'd pissed it, then clearly lost the final yet claimed blatant robbery and said he didn't want the silver. The pr guys sorted him out.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑21 May 2022, 10:12 UK's next PPV star..

Sky are gonna hype him big.

Non heavyweights are very difficult to make into regular PPV stars.

Absolutely pointless saying someone’s gonna be a PPV star before they’ve even thrown a punch in a pro ring. I hope he makes it but it won’t be a huge shock if he ends up being like Anthony Fowler or Tom Stalker.

jameswilson wrote: ↑22 May 2022, 11:09

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑21 May 2022, 10:12 UK's next PPV star..

Sky are gonna hype him big.

Non heavyweights are very difficult to make into regular PPV stars.

Absolutely pointless saying someone’s gonna be a PPV star before they’ve even thrown a punch in a pro ring. I hope he makes it but it won’t be a huge shock if he ends up being like Anthony Fowler or Tom Stalker.

I don’t think he is..

Probs on 250k a fight for first 10

i just dont get the appeal for him to be the star olympian turnover and have that type of money dumped into him

Ben Whittaker 'in talks' to headline BOXXER show in November

Ben Whittaker has enjoyed his summer.

After banishing his demons with a second-round stoppage in a much-anticipated Liam Cameron rematch on April 20, the 28-year-old has taken time out to recharge and assess the landscape.

Speculation was rife about the light heavyweight's future after Sky Sports let their four-year deal with BOXXER expire without renewed terms.

While other BOXXER-backed fighters have made their stance clear as they patiently await news for fight dates, Whittaker was busy elsewhere.

Whether exploring the culture in Japan, modelling for Paris Fashion Week, business trips in Germany or supporting stablemates in marquee fights, he's purposely kept schtum on his next move.

The 2020 Olympic silver medallist (9-0-1, 7 KOs) has previously been keen on conquering the domestic scene at 175 pounds but many of his contemporaries are now booked with bouts.

Lewis Edmondson-Ezra Taylor is set for the Joseph Parker-Fabio Wardley undercard on October 25 for British honours, with both having stated their desire to face him at some stage.

Dan Azeez, who Edmondson beat via 12-round majority decision to win the Lonsdale belt in October 2024, returns next Wednesday in his native Nigeria as part of the Brandon Glanton-Marcus Browne undercard, to be streamed live on DAZN.

The Ring's No. 10-rated contender Willy Hutchinson (18-2, 13 KOs) will end an injury-enforced layoff against Mark Jeffers (20-1, 7 KOs) next month while Zak Chelli won the English title with a 10th-round stoppage of Adam Hepple in June.

The possibilities are endless but Whittaker's promoter, Ben Shalom, knows of the need to avoid pushing him too quickly otherwise another disastrous outcome could rear its head.

It's been little under a year since he began working under Andy Lee at the Ballybrack Boxing Club in Dublin, Ireland after the controversial ending to his first fight with Cameron proved a blessing in disguise.

Ridicule and criticism were par for the course on social media. They rumbled on before the rematch was announced and divisive predictions were made.

Whittaker's stock has risen again since that humbling experience though, so now is time to capitalise where he sells the most tickets and generates interest.

While exercising caution as far as matchmaking is concerned, Shalom told The Ring of his immediate plans with an unbeaten contender many are clamouring to see.

"We are hoping, the plan is that we'll do a headline show with him in November in Birmingham," he said. "We're currently in talks to make it happen, I will talk to his team again this week."

Shalom confirmed that, as it stands, Whittaker's headline fight will feature on a different bill to the proposed Frazer Clarke-Jeamie Tshikeva fight for the vacant English heavyweight title.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑23 Sep 2025, 04:07 Ben Whittaker 'in talks' to headline BOXXER show in November
"We are hoping, the plan is that we'll do a headline show with him in November in Birmingham," he said. "We're currently in talks to make it happen, I will talk to his team again this week."

"we are hoping"

"we're currently in talks"

I don't know why outlets are reporting this as "whittaker confirmed for November"

Is he even still under contract to Boxxer?

Better platform for him to be on, they'll give him plenty of a push

Signed with Matchroom

Anyone else see that coming.

2019588 wrote: ↑23 Sep 2025, 11:14

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑23 Sep 2025, 04:07 Ben Whittaker 'in talks' to headline BOXXER show in November
"We are hoping, the plan is that we'll do a headline show with him in November in Birmingham," he said. "We're currently in talks to make it happen, I will talk to his team again this week."

"we are hoping"

"we're currently in talks"

I don't know why outlets are reporting this as "whittaker confirmed for November"

Is he even still under contract to Boxxer?

Seems I wasn't wrong

That's boxxer fucked now. No new stars will sign with them, more will leave.

Viddal Riley recently posted that he's a free agent. Boxxer is disputing that. He'll be next to leave, if he can.

Azim announcement for "new deal" said nothing about long term or multi year, so that's obviously a short 2 or 3 fight deal as well then he will be off.

Bloody hell, Kugan will be wetting his knickers at the thought of Eddie & Ben's Youtube view count.

Well I hope Eddie keeps him busy. Been a bit of a wet blanket career so far in regards to how much hype there was.

Any chance of Whittaker v Hutchinson? In reality it might be a step too far right now but Ben's ego might go for it. Plus he'll be in his 30th year by next summer. He needs to get a move on.

BEN WHITTAKER INKS LONG-TERM PROMOTIONAL DEAL WITH MATCHROOM

Matchroom Boxing has signed standout light heavyweight prospect Ben Whittaker to a long-term deal, the promotional company announced on Monday.

Whittaker (9-0-1, 6 KOs) is a 28-year-old from West Midlands, United Kingdom, and a 2020 Olympics silver medalist for Great Britain who was previously signed with Boxxer ever since making his pro debut in 2022.

“I’m at the right stage in my career now to pick the right platform and go for the right fights. So this move just made sense,” Whittaker said in a prepared statement. “All my family has known this is where I always wanted to be. It had to be the right time, but we’re here now, I know all the team here – they are very professional – and I honestly can’t wait to get started.”

Whittaker is a flashy and flamboyant fighter known for combining his world-class talent with showmanship and in-ring wizardry. The unique combination has registered several viral moments across social media throughout his upstart career.

Whittaker’s last two fights came against Liam Cameron. In October of last year, the two fought to a six-round technical draw after both boxers fell from the ring. Whittaker sustained an injury and was unfit to continue. But “The Surgeon” Whittaker left no doubt in the rematch by picking apart and crushing Cameron in April.

“I’ve only had 10 fights so far – and there have been a few ups and downs in those,” said Whittaker. “But I’m lucky that the experience I have so far will take me far in my career. I think with Eddie Hearn, Frank Smith, and Matchroom Boxing, I will become even more of a household name and one day, become a world champion.”

Whittaker is currently ranked No. 9 by the WBC and No. 13 by the IBF but sits outside of The Ring’s top 10 ratings in the 175-pound division. Whittaker is trained by renowned coach and former middleweight title holder, Andy Lee.

“I’m ranked well with both the IBF and WBC, so that was another reason why I wanted to come on board with Matchroom because I believe they will help navigate my path toward winning those belts at the right time,” said Whittaker. “And that’s what I’m here for."

Hearn said he’s prepared to catapult Whittaker’s profile and career into a new stratosphere.

“He’s phenomenal,” said Hearn. “This is the greatest signing to make in boxing today. Ben Whittaker is a generational talent and we are ready to take his career to a whole new level.

“This long-term deal will propel Ben to global superstardom, solidifying his reputation as a household name and steering him toward future world titles. He will be No.1. He has the world at his feet, and I am beyond excited to finally be promoting this great, young man.”

A press conference has been scheduled on October 17 in London to further elaborate on the deal.

Hearn calling it a “game-changing” signing.

And the best signing anyone could make right now

He’s not looked that good so far and I can’t see him winning a title any time soon. He looks big for LH too but doesn’t seem to have that much power. I get he’s a personality but he’s not a sure bet in my opinion.

Taansend wrote: ↑06 Oct 2025, 15:22 Bloody hell, Kugan will be wetting his knickers at the thought of Eddie & Ben's Youtube view count.

Well I hope Eddie keeps him busy. Been a bit of a wet blanket career so far in regards to how much hype there was.

Any chance of Whittaker v Hutchinson? In reality it might be a step too far right now but Ben's ego might go for it. Plus he'll be in his 30th year by next summer. He needs to get a move on.

That’s a good fight…..

dbf wrote: ↑06 Oct 2025, 16:43 He’s not looked that good so far and I can’t see him winning a title any time soon. He looks big for LH too but doesn’t seem to have that much power. I get he’s a personality but he’s not a sure bet in my opinion.

I've seen enough of him to partially agree with you.
He has "looked good" but not particularly effective.