Ben Whittaker does not fancy England’s chances this summer at the World Cup, but has promised to bring boxing home ahead of his US debut this evening.
The World Cup fever is spreading across the nation – with many believing England will finally be able to add a second star to their iconic white strip. Thomas Tuchel’s side got off to the perfect start last week – winning their opening group stage game 4-2 against an experienced Croatian side.
Just days later, though, the Three Lions failed to secure top spot in the second game after a dull 0-0 draw with Ghana over in Boston. England will be looking to top the group later this evening with a win over already-eliminated Panama at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Just over an hour’s drive from the stadium, Whittaker will make his first appearance on US soil. The undefeated 29-year-old will take on Richard Rivera on the undercard of Xander Zayas’ super welterweight title defence against Jaron “Boots” Ennis. With Whittaker set to make the walk to the ring an hour before England’s meeting with Panama, he may be able to catch the match, provided he makes easy work of Rivera.
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While tonight marks Whittaker’s first professional fight in the United States, he is certainly no stranger to the country, having previously trained in Miami and Colorado, as well as fighting there as an amateur with Team GB. Naturally, he plans to get the job done and edge closer to a crack at the world title, so he won’t have any time to soak up the sights that the Big Apple has to offer, but he may stick around after the fight to watch England’s progression during the tournament over in North America.
“I’m just going there to get the job done. [I will] catch a couple World Cup games after, but for me, it’s just go out there, win, look good, try some of the food because they got good food always, and then yeah, probably try and catch a couple of the World Cup games if England are still in it,” he told Mirror Fighting.
England fans across the nation believe the national side can triumph Stateside and win the World Cup for the first time since 1966, Whittaker – on the other hand – is slightly more realistic and has raised question marks over Tuchel’s 26 man squad. “If they get through, hopefully, I’ll stay and watch them try and get through, but I don’t know about that team sheet. I don’t know if we’re gonna get anywhere near the semis with that,” he joked.
He added: “You know, there’s a couple there’s a couple gems in there. I like my boy Morgan Rogers and (Marcus) Rashford, a couple of other players, but they left out some big players. I feel like (Morgan) Gibbs-White should have been in there.”
Traditionally, British boxers haven’t fared well in America, certainly over the past few decades. Anthony Joshua famously suffered the first defeat of his professional career to Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden in New York back in 2019. Kell Brook was brutally knocked out by Terence Crawford six years ago in Las Vegas, Amir Khan suffered back-to-back defeats to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia in 2011 and 2012 respectively. ‘King’ also suffered a jaw-dropping knockout defeat to Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas ten years ago.
But Whittaker is not reading too much into past results by his fellow countrymen, and believes triumphing in America is quite simply meant to be. “I just feel like some people are meant to be where they’re supposed to be, and that’s where I feel like I get the most love, I’ve got the same energy as them,” he admitted.
“Every time I’ve gone there, I feel kind of American, kind of weirdly. As a kid, every time I watch boxing, we had some great fighters from England of course, but I always used to watch the American fights. That’s the fights I used to stay up and watch, that’s the fighters I used to study.
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“So, I’ve always been around it, and then going over there so many times as an amateur, I’ve been around it too. So for me, I just feel like it was meant to be. It’s good to go over this early. It’s good to get used to it now, so then when I am there for maybe world titles, defending world titles, it’s second nature.”
