Ben Whittaker could be on a collision course with Joshua Buatsi as he sharpens his skills for a world title fight.
EThe unbeaten British contender makes his US debut against Richard Rivera on the Xander Zayas vs Jaron Ennis bill in New York in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Promoter Eddie Hearn believes Whittaker is ‘three fights’ away from challenging the light-heavyweight world title holders, and a big domestic clash against fellow Englishman Buatsi or Scotland’s Willy Hutchinson could happen later this year.
“I think me and Buatsi are kind of close,” Whittaker told Sky Sports. “I think we’re two and three in the WBC [rankings], so something like that could happen.
“And Willy, I’ve beaten him before in the amateurs, so it’d be good to get another win over him in the pros.
“But for me, it’s whoever’s next, whoever makes sense, whoever’s going to get me to where I need to get to.”
Dmitry Bivol, the WBA, WBO and IBF champion, returned with a points win over Michael Eifert last month, while WBC belt holder David Benavidez stepped up to cruiserweight to defeat Gilberto Ramirez in a recent world title fight.
“Whoever’s got the most belts and whoever’s got the most money,” said Whittaker when asked to pick a world champion he could face.
“But as of now, Benavidez has gone up to cruiserweight, so if you had to say someone, Bivol, of course, he’s got the most belts as well. But I think the fight that would make a lot of money – the way it’s going – is me versus Benavidez.”
Zak Chelli insists he does not view Ben Whittaker as his ‘competition’ and claims he dropped the Olympic silver medallist during a past sparring session
Outlining the plan for Whittaker, Hearn told Sky Sports: “Against those guys, probably another three fights. They are the elite of the elite, and when you fight them, you’ve got to be ready.
“So we’ve got Saturday night, and Whittaker will headline in October against a big domestic name, and then one more, and then he’ll be ready for anybody in the division.”
One fighter who Whittaker will not be pursuing is Londoner Zak Chelli, who has claimed that he floored him in a past sparring session.
“They all call me out, they all call me out, but all I’m going to say is, when we were kids, who got picked for the Commonwealth [Games]? Your man, himself,” said Whittaker.
Hearn (right) says Whittaker (left) is ‘three fights’ away from challenging the light-heavyweight world title holders
“Who got picked for Team GB over him? Your man, himself. Who went to the Olympics over me or him? Your man, himself. So, all I got to say is, results don’t lie, baby.
“And they’re all calling me out, but he kind of knows his place.”
Could Josh Kelly be next for Jaron Ennis?
In the main event, Hearn has urged Ennis to produce a dominant win over Zayas that could pave the way for a world title unification clash against IBF super-welterweight champion Josh Kelly.
“If he wins this fight on Saturday and becomes unified world champion, there are two other belt holders, Josh Kelly and Sebastian Fundora,” Hearn said. “He’ll want to chase those fights.
“He’ll [Ennis] try and be undisputed. Then he’ll move to 160 [lbs]. Then I think he’ll move to 168[lbs]. So, yeah, I’m really excited to see him triumph.”
Watch MVPW-06 in Birmingham, headlined by Mikaela Mayer v Chantelle Cameron and with Caroline Dubois also in action, live on August 29 on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream boxing with no contract.
