Carl Froch has weighed in on Ben Whittaker‘s chances in a world title fight with Dmitry Bivol.
Whittaker has always divided opinion given his flashy style and the way he showboats during fights, even in contests he is expected to win.
So far, the 2020 Olympic silver medallist has fought 14 and not yet lost, though he did draw with Liam Cameron when the pair met in 2024 after the fight was ended in round five when Whittaker fell out of the ring and claimed he was too injured to go on.
He had been under plenty of pressure at that point, and some suspected him of taking a way out. The immediate rematch saw him secure a second-round knockout, and since then he has had four straight wins, though last time out against Conor Wallace he was caught late and came through a torrid final few rounds to secure the points win.
That left many saying he was not yet ready to step up to world level, including Froch, who didn’t hold back in his assessment of where Whittaker is at right now in a video on his Froch on Fighting YouTube Channel.
“If he wants to step up to world level, there’ll be people looking at this [his fight with Wallace] – people like Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, if he’s still fighting – and they’ll be laughing at this.
“Not in a bad way – they’ll just be saying, ‘Right, okay. Easy night’s work’. Ben Whittaker’s not ready to step up to that level. You wouldn’t give Ben Whittaker a cat in hell’s chance against someone like Dmitry Bivol.”
Whittaker is mandatory for Bivol’s IBF world title, but even his promoter Eddie Hearn suggested the Wolverhampton man will now need at least one more contest to get him ready for what would be a huge step up in class, and a rematch with Wallace is one option.
