Ben Whittaker sees himself eventually following in the footsteps of James Toney, who famously competed at heavyweight after winning his first world title at 160lbs.
The American permanently moved up from middleweight in 1992, having confessed his love for Burger King after edging a majority decision against Mike McCallum.
He then became a three-division world champion but, despite outpointing John Ruiz in 2005, a failed doping test rendered his WBA title triumph a no-contest.
Whittaker, meanwhile, believes he could be on a similar trajectory to the Hall of Famer and, while hopefully remaining on the clean side of his sport, may end up facing David Benavidez at heavyweight.
Speaking with a selection of media members, including Boxing News, the 29-year-old gave his best Toney impersonation when asked about the potential Benavidez clash.
“Never say never, man. You see the size of my dad – I’ll be a heavyweight soon! For now, I’m in my own lane. But I would like that [Benavidez] fight down the road so, after this [his light-heavyweight campaign], it’s ‘Burger King, baby!’”
“First, I want to make sure I dominate my weight. Then I’d like to move up; I think it would be good to go through the weights.”
In order to dominate his current division, Whittaker must first win his scheduled 12-rounder against Conor Wallace and, in turn, become the IBF’s leading contender at 175lbs.
Whether he succeeds in doing so, we will find out this Saturday at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena. But Whittaker, of course, is supremely confident that just over four years as a professional has prepared him for this moment.
“I think it’s all working perfectly to where I wanted to be [at this point]. I’ve had the little setbacks of injuries – and moving from [Ben Shalom’s] Boxxer to [Eddie Hearn’s] Matchroom – but it’s all working out at the right time.
“I feel very matured, I feel like I’ve learned a lot and I think my last performance [a second-round stoppage of Richard Rivera] showed that I’m moving a bit different now.”
In terms of those stylistic improvements under head coach Andy Lee, Whittaker described his transformation as going from the “Drunken Master” – referencing the 1978 film starring Jackie Chan – to “The Surgeon”, capable of slicing through opponents in a clinical manner.
Indeed, it would appear that he is hitting with greater sharpness and authority. But also, the Olympic silver medallist feels that, compared to his GB teammates at Tokyo 2020, he is making the most noise as a professional.
“Out of my [Olympic] crop, I think I’m one of the most talked-about and exciting [fighters]. No shade on them [his GB teammates], of course, because they were like my family at one point.
“But out of all of them, really, I’m doing what I’m supposed to do and, when I become a world champion, it’ll be nice. I’ll probably rub it in [Olympic gold medallist] Galal [Yafai’s] face.”
For now, at least, Whittaker does appear to be on a promising trajectory but, as he enters arguably a career-toughest assignment this weekend, he will certainly need to be more of “The Surgeon” than the “Drunken Master”.
