{"id":662515,"date":"2026-06-28T09:25:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T09:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/662515\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T09:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T09:25:26","slug":"ben-whittaker-moves-toward-world-title-after-richard-rivera-knockout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/662515\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Whittaker Moves Toward World Title After Richard Rivera Knockout"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=boxingnews24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"208\" alt=\"Add EBoxing News 24as a preferred source on Google\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/google.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqLAgKIiZDQklTRmdnTWFoSUtFR0p2ZUdsdVoyNWxkM015TkM1amIyMG9BQVAB?ceid=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"128\" alt=\"Follow Boxing News 24 on Google News\" style=\"height:100%; width:auto; display:block;\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/follow-google-news.png\"\/><br \/>\n  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Whittaker (12-0-1, 9 KOs) scored his fourth consecutive knockout after stopping \u2018Popeye\u2019 Rivera in two rounds during his United States debut Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n<p>At the post-fight press conference, Hearn said the plan is no longer simply building Whittaker\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to start positioning now for a world title,\u201d Hearn said. \u201cWe need a big domestic name or a fight that\u2019s going to get him mandatory, a final eliminator.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hearn also made it clear that Matchroom has no intention of rushing Whittaker into fights with the division\u2019s biggest names.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t go from Rivera to Bivol and Benavidez and Beterbiev,\u201d Hearn said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to fight those guys. There\u2019s two or three more in between Rivera and those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Hearn said Whittaker will continue moving through the rankings one step at a time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe next fight will be another step up. Like tonight was a step up. You keep stepping up, you keep producing the performances, and you keep going through the levels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As examples of realistic opponents, Hearn mentioned Joshua Buatsi, Anthony Yarde, and Willie Hutchinson, while noting Callum Smith is expected to move in another direction.<\/p>\n<p>Whittaker, meanwhile, said he is content to leave the matchmaking to his team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll I do is just train, and whoever they put in front of me, I beat them up,\u201d Whittaker said.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Youtube video\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" nopin=\"nopin\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782638726_296_hqdefault.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"182\" data-end=\"497\">Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, recognized for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fight landscape. His reporting focuses on major bouts, divisional developments, and the sport\u2019s most discussed storylines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whittaker (12-0-1, 9 KOs) scored his fourth consecutive knockout after stopping \u2018Popeye\u2019 Rivera in two rounds during his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-662515","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\/662515","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=662515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}