Tomorrow’s return fight between British light heavyweights Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron is a fight plenty of us are looking forward to seeing, mostly to see if showman Whittaker can deliver the type of impressive performance he and his supporters felt would be the case back in October.
A fighter who has been eager to showboat during a fight, to the extent that Whittaker was accused by some of ripping off some of Naseem Hamed’s moves, Whittaker was then “exposed” by Cameron, in the opinion of the critics.
The two men, who were even on the cards at the time, took a tumble over the top rope in the October fight, and the contest was over, declared a technical draw. There were suggestions that Whittaker didn’t like the heat and that he looked for, and found, a way out of the fight. This is, of course, denied by Whittaker.
Now, the rematch is on (this after much squabbling over the number of scheduled rounds, with 10 finally agreed upon, not 12 rounds). Can Whittaker put it right and defeat Cameron with flair and with style this time, or will Cameron once again prove to be too tough and too resilient?
Both men appear to be in great physical shape going into the sequel, and Whittaker, a big, big 175-pounder, says he thinks he will enter the ring at around the 200-pound mark. Speaking with Sky Sports after the official weigh-in, in which Whittaker came in at 175 even, with Cameron a pound lighter than that, Whittaker said he will be super-strong in the fight.
“Now the fun part starts,” Whittaker, 8-0-1(5) said after having hit the scale. “I think I’m really big for the weight. That’s an advantage, when I go in the ring I’ll probably be a cruiser.”
It would be great if the folks at Sky Sports gave us fighters’ on the night weights during their broadcasts, especially in fights where the weight of a fighter may prove to be such a factor in the fight. But will Whittaker be able to pull off an explosive win, maybe a KO win, tomorrow? Cameron feels his edge in pro experience will again prove to be a big factor.
“I’m so calm for this fight,” Cameron said. “I’ve probably done it that many times, I don’t know how many fights I’ve had. I’ve been here and done it.”
Well, Cameron, the older man by seven years at age 34, has had 30 pro fights, of which he has won 23, ten by stoppage. It’s crunch time now, and both men seem to be confident, or arrogant in the case of Whittaker. In terms of pressure, most of it is on Whittaker’s shoulders. Again, can the former Olympian deliver the goods this time?
Pick: I’m going for Whittaker to win by fairly wide decision this time around.