Ben Whittaker is fresh off another win this past weekend, and Eddie Hearn has laid out when he thinks the Birmingham man will be ready to step up and face Dmitry Bivol.
Whittaker is a divisive light heavyweight who is known for his showboating and in-ring antics, as well as being an Olympic silver medalist.
So far, he has 13 wins from 14 contests, with one draw against Liam Cameron in 2024 that he avenged in his next contest after a less-than-convincing performance initially.
His latest fight with Conor Wallace was similar in that Whittaker boxed well and established a wide points lead in the first nine or so rounds before he was caught and sent spinning around the ring.
Wallace then got more active than he had been earlier in the contest and made it something of a brawl. Whittaker was on the canvas three times but none were counted as a knockdown and he did enough to get through the final bell to take the unanimous decision.
Speaking after the figh, Hearn admitted he now thinks Whittaker needs another fight before stepping up to a world title challenge with Bivol.
“If he would have looked sensational tonight and destroyed Connor Wallace, we would have been in position to stay let’s go into Bivol or Callum Smith. For me, no, we need another fight.
“Now when I look at it I think that’s the Buatsi-Hutchinson winner, that’s Yarde, or it’s [a rematch with] Connor Wallace.
“I’m happy to make that fight because if we’re going to be serious to beat the likes of Bivol or Callum Smith, with all due respect to Connor, Ben needs to be beating Connor impressively.”
