Ben showboats his way to stoppage win

Ben Whittaker…a fighter whose antics divide fans

AFTER a career start hindered by injury, Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker is building momentum in the paid ranks.

At Manchester Arena’s show last night (Saturday) – a bill topped by Savannah Marshall’s world super-middleweight victory – the West Bromwich star halted Vladimir Belujsky in the eighth and final round.

The Slovakian light-heavy lost for the seventh time in 21 bouts (one draw).

It was, as has become the standard for 26-year-old Ben, a performance punctuated by showboating. In registering his fourth pro win, Whittaker danced and shimmed to success.

The Black Country boxer seems determined to establish himself as the sport’s Marmite: you either love the show or hate the arrogance.

Turn on the TV, or buy a ticket to watch him win or lose, you’re still watching him.

As Sky Sports put it after last night’s bout: “More dancing, more showboating, more extravagance and, crucially, more evidence of the not-so-secret thorn out to pierce the British boxing landscape, and perhaps even beyond that.”

Even Belujsky smiled after Whittaker connected with a left, then broke into a dance.

By the third, Whittaker was effortlessly working the body, at one point sinking a withering left hook to the flank before connecting with a salvo of head shots.

Ben cranked up the pressure in the seventh after his corner called on him to “turn it up”. He stalked the East European and, at one point, stuck out his head, inviting Belujsky to strike it.

The visitor was, by now, too wary of sharp counters to take-up the offer.

With Belujsky taking stick and offering nothing back, referee Mark Lyson decided he’d seen enough in the eighth.

In post-fight interview, Whittaker continued the theatrics, asking the interviewer: “Do I still look pretty?”

He also eluded to a possible future fight in Wolverhampton: “I’m a Wolverhampton man, it’s only right the king comes home.”

On his performance, Ben said: “He was a very, very tough, game kid.

“I wanted to show I can fight with discipline, I can jab, I can break them down. A beat-down is what he got.

“My career is a longevity career – I want to get to the top. I beat him down and the ref saw enough.”

Belujsky is game and resilient, but has lost in his two previous trips to Britain.

Karol Itauma stopped him in the eighth last December, Jack Cullen outpointed him, also at Manchester Arena, in April of the same year.

Beating the Slovakian is not really anything to make a song and dance about.

But, then, dancing between the ropes appears Whittaker’s trademark.