Ben Whittaker would have stepped in to replace Dan Azeez for Joshua Buatsi fight | 'Perfect style for me!'
Ben Whittaker is recovering from an injury but wants to return in December; He is eager to face the top light-heavyweights eventually and if he'd been able to would have jumped in to replace Dan Azeez against Joshua Buatsi; "My style's all wrong for them, theirs is right for me," he said
Thursday 2 November 2023 15:11, UK
Ben Whittaker would have stepped in at short notice to replace Dan Azeez against Joshua Buatsi if he had been injury-free himself.
Azeez had to pull out of his much-anticipated October clash with Buatsi, which will now be rescheduled. Whittaker would have offered his services, just a few days out from the fight, if he'd been able to.
"If something like that was there and I didn't have a niggle and I was in fight shape I would have jumped in," Whittaker told Sky Sports.
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"If that availability came, if Azeez pulled out, I would say I'd fight Buatsi because style-wise it's perfect for me. I would say put me in there. I'm getting money and world title shot after that, it's a no-brainer.
"So I would have jumped into something like that."
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He does though acknowledge: "You can't rush things.
"I'm four fights in, I've got to take my time."
Whittaker has been kept out of action by an injury but is targeting a return in December.
"A little hand niggle but nothing too serious," he explained. "I'm just making sure every time I get in the ring now I'm 100 per cent. So I took the time away I needed, I'm still training, still working on things and I should be back out in December hopefully."
He believes fights with boxers like Dan Azeez or Joshua Buatsi are still in his future. Whittaker will want to box the victor of their rescheduled bout.
"The loser, they've got nothing for me. The winner's more the one you want to aim for," Whittaker said.
"You don't aim for second place."
He believes he is ultimately suited for that level of opposition. "I think my style's all wrong for them, theirs is right for me," Whittaker said.
"They can all fight but my whole amateur career, my whole younger career was just guys running at me so if I have to have a boxer or that, I'd say give me one of them because it's easy.
"Light-heavyweight's a real tough weight at the moment," he continued. "They can all punch of course, they can all come forward but no one really is speedy, no one is fast. No one really counter-punches and that's all me.
"The top level [Dmitry Bivol] just beat the face of boxing which is Canelo. The normal domestic level's still nearly world level. It is a tough, tough division. I'm happy to be a part of that. If you turn left, you turn right, there's names everywhere."
He promises: "I know when the time comes I can really switch on and put a clinic on and box. At the moment I'm having fun, TikTok seems to like what I'm doing so I'm doing it [showboating] for that."
But he added: "When the fights do come and I need to switch on, I know I'll switch on."
