Benjamin G. Whittaker (born 6 June 1997) is an English
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
. As an
amateur he won a silver medal at the
2020 Summer Olympics.
Amateur career
In 2018, he was picked to represent England in the
2018 Commonwealth Games
The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, ...
, which took place in Australia's
Gold Coast.
In 2019, he was selected to compete at the
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
in
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administrat ...
, Russia, where he won the bronze medal after losing by
unanimous decision
A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...
to
Dilshodbek Ruzmetov
Dilshodbek Ruzmetov (born 12 March 1999) is an Uzbek professional boxer. As an amateur, Ruzmetov won a gold medal at the 2021 Asian Championships and a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. Ruzmetov also competed at the 2020 Summer O ...
in the semi-finals.
In 2021, at the men's light-heavyweight category at the
2020 Tokyo Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...
, Whittaker won the silver medal against
Arlen Lopez, who won gold.
Whittaker tweeted, "You don't win silver, you lose gold. I'm very disappointed - I feel like a failure."
Distraught from falling short of gold, he refused to wear the medal at the ceremony; however, he vowed he would return to win gold, saying: "I'll come back, trust me."
Whittaker's passionate reaction drew mixed reactions, but most people were empathetic of Whittaker's reaction. English media personality
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at '' The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the ...
tweeted: "Love this - finally, an athlete at these Olympics prepared to tell the truth about competing in elite sport. Good for you @BenGWhittaker".
Professional career
In 2022 he signed a professional deal with
Boxxer
Boxxer, stylised as BOXXER, is a British professional boxing promotional company.
Founded by Ben Shalom, Boxxer began as Ultimate Boxxer, organising eight-man professional boxing elimination tournaments starting in April 2018 and preceding to ho ...
, training with
SugarHill Steward
SugarHill Steward (formerly known as Javan "Sugar" Hill) is an American professional boxing trainer and former Detroit police officer, former chef, best known as the trainer of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
He is the nephew of boxing trainer E ...
.
Professional boxing record
Notes
References
1997 births
Living people
English male boxers
Sportspeople from West Bromwich
Boxers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games competitors for England
Boxers at the 2019 European Games
European Games medalists in boxing
European Games silver medalists for Great Britain
AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists
Light-heavyweight boxers
Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic boxers of Great Britain
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
Olympic medalists in boxing
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