When Argentina’s Braian Suarez said on Thursday that it would soon be “all over” he was referring to the hype that surrounds Ben Whittaker, his next opponent. He meant the project; he meant the noise. He believed, or at least said he believed, that he possessed the power to apply the first loss to Whittaker’s unbeaten record and in turn derail the former 2020 Olympic silver medallist at the point at which his hype machine is starting to gather pace.
The truth is, such is Whittaker’s hype, Suarez didn’t even need to win last night in Liverpool to achieve his goal. A win, for him, would have been the ideal result, of course, but there were other ways of achieving what Suarez aimed to achieve. Take Whittaker the distance, for example, and many would have referenced the fact that Suarez is a light-heavyweight accustomed to being stopped and therefore Whittaker, in failing to stop him, must not be all he is cracked up to be. Similarly, if Suarez had managed to hurt Whittaker or perhaps even drop him, suddenly then questions would have been asked regarding Whittaker’s punch resistance and all-round durability.
In short, all Suarez had to do to live up to his pre-fight boasts was put up a show; give it a go; ask Whittaker questions he has not yet been asked. Do that and we would have seen the point in bringing Suarez over from Argentina for last night’s assignment. Do that and we may have been forced to rethink our very high opinion of Ben Whittaker.
As it turned out, Suarez did the complete opposite of what he promised. Instead of derailing Whittaker, or silencing the noise around him, all he did, by collapsing to the canvas following a right hand in round one, was crank up the volume and volunteer his image for Whittaker’s ever-growing highlight reel. Rather than end Whittaker’s hype, or his journey, he simply fanned the flames. He added to it. He went down so quickly that Whittaker’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was on the brink of exploding in the ring after the fight. “What you are seeing is the evolution of the next true British great superstar of boxing in Ben Whittaker,” he said on DAZN. “Some might like it; some might not like it. Tough. You’ve got to get used to it. Because I watch him walk to the ring and I’m thinking, Superstar, superstar, superstar. He’s got the swag, and it’s almost annoying how slick and cool he is.”
As if to prove it, Whittaker listened to Hearn proclaim his greatness while resting up against the ring ropes, looking more the observer than participant. It was hard to see if he had broken sweat, but chances are it was unlikely. The fight, after all, lasted all of two minutes and twenty-four seconds. That was all it took for Whittaker to find his range, back Suarez up, sink a left hook into his body, and then discombobulate him with a wild right hand to the top of his head. After that, the fight was over and the noise began. Or simply continued.
The only difference now was that the talk was louder and even more excitable – if you can imagine such a thing. “That was good, innit,” said Whittaker afterwards. “That was good, baby.” He wasn’t wrong. “I had my two best friends, Des and Troy” – he now presented his fists – “and what do they make? Destroy, baby. You saw what happened. Don’t get it twisted, he’s a very good fighter. I was expecting a couple of rounds. I can still play, I was just starting to get into my rhythm, showboating and having a bit of fun, but I’m hitting now. I’m hitting.”
He certainly is. In fact, much of the reason why Whittaker’s hype has gone to a new level in the past 12 months has been because he is now finishing his food rather than just playing with it. In the past 12 months he has impressively stopped Liam Cameron in two rounds, and both Benjamin Gavazi and now Braian Suarez in one. If looking to accelerate a fighter’s hype, there is no better way of doing it than that. What is more, his promoter is not lying when he says that Whittaker has star potential. We see this in the way Whittaker carries himself, the way he talks, and the way he effortlessly divides opinion. He is watchable, of that there is no doubt, and the only concern now is that we are not seeing enough of him; that is, he is winning fights at this level much too easily.
“That was actually a step up,” argued Whittaker, now 11-0-1 (9 KOs). “But you see what I’m doing. They can all call me out, but they’re calling me out for a reason. Because the more I get in this ring, the more experience I get, the more I get comfortable in this ring, it’s dangerous for them.”
Whittaker, of course, has little say on his opposition at this embryonic stage of his career. He has, in fairness to him, been dealing with opponents exactly how one would hope a “superstar” would deal with them in the role of heavy favourite. Which is to say, he knows that he must do more than simply win these kinds of fights and that he must win them in a way that is eye-catching. In the case of Suarez, last night’s foe, he knew he had to made quick work of him, if only because Suarez had been stopped in two rounds by Sharabutdin Ataev in 2024, inside 10 by Lyndon Arthur in 2023, and in one round by Albert Ramirez in 2022. In that respect, beating Suarez, whatever the method or speed, was a thankless task, yet still Whittaker managed to get the job done in a manner that can be considered impressive.
The mission now is to get him opponents against whom a stoppage win, of any variety, will be deemed a standout result. Look, for instance, at how Moses Itauma, a man seven years Whittaker’s junior, has been moved in the past 12 months. Look at how his recent five-round demolition of Jermaine Franklin, a heavyweight gatekeeper, was received all around the world. He was praised that night, Itauma, not only because he looked quite brilliant breaking Franklin apart and knocking him out, but because he had aced his toughest test to date by stopping a man who had never before been stopped.
To see something similar from Whittaker would represent the ticking of the next box. It wouldn’t tell us everything about the light-heavyweight from Wolverhampton, no, but it would go a long way to helping us understand the vision and the extent of his potential. It would also allow us to better understand the evolution of “the next true British great superstar of boxing” and what that actually means.
