The political turmoil engulfing Olympic boxing seems a world away for Great Britain’s latest hot prospect Ben Whittaker, who is only focused on winning over more reluctant admirers at the World Championships in Russia next month.
Whittaker is one of 13 members of the GB squad picked for the event in Yekaterinburg which will no longer function as a Tokyo qualifying tournament after governing body AIBA were stripped of their status as the sport’s Olympic hosts.
While officials continue to scratch their heads over the replacement qualifying process for the 2020 Games, light-heavyweight Whittaker knows he must leave nothing to chance – and that means turning on the style even more.
The 22-year-old’s fleet-footed, unorthodox approach – which has earned more than a few comparisons to Naseem Hamed – might not go down well with everyone but it did earn him a breakthrough European silver medal in Minsk in June.
Whittaker told PA: “I’ve had occasions when the crowd have hated me because of my showboating and I expect that might happen in Russia, but if the crowd are against me it just spurs me on even more.
“I’ve got a flashy, show-off style and it used to get me in trouble with referees. As I’ve matured, I’ve learned to strike a balance, but I definitely like to stand back and show off when I can.
“I’ve always thought amateur boxing is a bit plain. It’s ‘I’ll hit you, then you hit me.’ When I turn professional I’ll be doing this so I thought why not now? I just want to be free to express myself.”
Since his emergence in the 81kg division Whittaker has won a series of gold medals but it was his silver in Minsk – after a bizarre, stand-offish defeat to Azerbaijan’s Loren Alfonso – which may ultimately prove to be most significant.
“Everyone usually just runs at me and I love it, but my opponent tried to box me and it was a bit weird,” added Whittaker.
“But I needed that because it is the perfect time to study that kind of style before Tokyo.
“It was disappointing when I heard this was not going to be an Olympic qualifier but you just have to get on with it. This gives me the chance to see the other boxers from around the world, and prepare for Tokyo.”
The 13-strong squad also includes the likes of Burton super-heavyweight Frazer Clarke, who is looking to bounce back from his first-round loss in the Belarusian capital, and the McCormack twins, Pat and Luke.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here