Ben Whittaker could suffer from Liam Cameron incident without rematch, says George Groves | boxing news

A former world champion sky sports Expert George Groves says there is no need for Ben Whittaker to go on a ‘witch hunt’ after his Liam Cameron fight came to a strange end.

I watched Ben Whitaker throughout training camp. I was going there with my fighter Lucas Roehrig. Lucas was sparring with Ben and Ben looked sharp. Lucas looked cool, but Ben looked sharp. I thought he was doing great, handling everything as he did.

I think it’s fair to say that his profile far exceeds his professional achievements to date. There is pressure as the spotlight is focused on him.

Whittaker was there with Liam Cameron, a decidedly underrated player who was much better than people gave him credit for. He had a great fight with Lyndon Arthur and probably continues to improve.

It certainly wasn’t the best Ben Whittaker we’ve seen. Make the ending whatever you want. It was a little strange, but I think he needs to address it. I hope there will be a rematch so he can put it to bed. Otherwise, it might end up bothering him.

I don’t know whether he should have continued or not. If he wasn’t right and didn’t continue and it ended in a draw, otherwise he would have gone on and lost. If so, he made the right decision. If it was the other way around, he made the wrong decision. That’s it.

But his career so far has been very good. I think he boxed well. He is currently one of the hottest prospects in England, both commercially and talent-wise. I think he’s in a good spot.

I think it will explode pretty quickly. Right now, he may feel that this is what he will be remembered for. But the truth of the matter is, especially in this day and age, people like to move on quickly. News doesn’t last long and he’s just one good performance or interesting social media post away from being forgotten.

As long as he relies on it and possesses it, he will undoubtedly benefit from it. His profile fights the fight. This time the rise isn’t due to some viral showboat or colossal knockout, it’s something different. But no publicity is bad publicity.

I think a rematch should happen next. I don’t see how it doesn’t have to be that way. Unless it’s difficult to make money through money or contracts, I can’t see Whittaker shying away from it.

There is currently talk that he may change his training team. I know he’s been working with his amateur coach, Joby Clayton, who seems like a phenomenal coach. Whittaker is a great fighter, so it makes sense. But I think he wanted some experience in the pro ranks from his coach.

He might find someone else, perhaps someone based in the UK. That would be interesting and might add something to him. He has great talent. I’d like to see him throw his punches with more authority.

If he fights Cameron again and it’s decisive for him, it’s going to be completely put to bed. I will not participate in the Ben Whittaker witch hunt now. You have to deal with both the pros and cons of being a high-profile fighter.

He is far from Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Because they have too much skin in the game, too much experience and have played 12 rounds.

I still believe Ben Whittaker has the potential to be a future world champion. If it takes him a few years to get there, we might not have a Beterbiev or Bivol there and they might start to slip.

I look forward to Whittaker’s development. I would definitely like to see him performing at the highest level in the future. Otherwise I will be disappointed.