{"id":287241,"date":"2025-11-28T03:47:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T03:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/287241\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T03:47:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T03:47:06","slug":"hearn-says-ben-whittaker-is-still-a-third-bracket-fighter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/287241\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearn Says Ben Whittaker Is Still A Third-Bracket Fighter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eddie Hearn says he views light heavyweight contender Ben Whittaker as occupying the \u201cthird bracket\u201d of the top fighters in the 175-lb division. He states that his focus is on \u201cdeveloping\u201d the 2020 Olympic silver medalist Whittaker (9-0-1, 6 KOs) into a superstar.<\/p>\n

(Credit: Mark Robinson\/Matchroom)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really easy to promote him. The focus is on developing him as a fighter to be able to challenge and compete with the names we need to in the division,\u201d said promoter Eddie Hearn to The Stomping Ground<\/a>. \u201cWhen you look at the phases at 175, you\u2019ve got Beterbiev, Bivol, Benavidez. They\u2019re the three standouts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whittaker fights Benjamin Gavazi (19-1, 13 KOs) this Saturday, November 29th, in a 10-round bout on a Matchroom card at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put Callum Smith teetering on that point, but then you\u2019ve got Buatsi and Yarde. Beneath that, you\u2019ve got the domestic guys. You\u2019ve got Willy Hutchinson, Craig Richards, you\u2019ve got Dan Azeez. And now I start to put Ben Whittaker only in that third bracket in terms of where he is and who he\u2019s ready for right now,\u201d said Hearn.<\/p>\n

Eddie is overlooking David Morrell, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and Imam Khataev in the second bracket. All three of those would be a big problem for Buatsi, Callum, Richards, Azeez, and Yarde.<\/p>\n

Of that bunch, the Cuban Morrell is fighting on another level, and that includes Whittaker. Hearn will see that when his fighter, WBO interim light heavyweight champion Callum, defends against Morrell in January 2026. At 27, Morrell is younger than the 28-year-old Whittaker and possesses superior power.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is a good fight. This is a tough fight,\u201d said Hearn about Whittaker fighting Benjamin Gavazi.<\/p>\n

Hearn needs to take a good look at Whittaker in this fight to decide whether he\u2019s a keeper or not. The first Liam Cameron fight gave a clear picture of Whittaker\u2019s potential. Moreover, Ben\u2019s last two amateur fights against Cuba\u2019s Arlen Lopez and Russia\u2019s Imam Khataev showed his limits, as he struggled in both.<\/p>\n

If Whittaker doesn\u2019t work out as a star, Hearn will be stuck with an albatross, a constant reminder of the mistake he made in signing him. Whittaker may not rise above the third bracket, or he could slip into the fourth bracket.<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s performance against the fourth bracket fighter, Cameron, in their first fight in 2024, was a red flag about his potential, or lack thereof, as a fighter.<\/p>\n

Ken Woods has been a senior writer at Boxing News 24 since 2013, covering the sport from every angle. With years of ringside reporting, he delivers fight news, results, and analysis that cut through the noise. Ken\u2019s work consistently spotlights champions, contenders, and prospects, giving fans a sharp, knowledgeable view of the global boxing scene.<\/p>\n

Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb Hearn Slots Whittaker Into \u201cThird Bracket\u201d Tier<\/p>\n

Last Updated on 11\/27\/2025 \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eddie Hearn says he views light heavyweight contender Ben Whittaker as occupying the \u201cthird bracket\u201d of the top…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-287241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}