Liam Cameron (23-7-1, 10 KOs) wasn’t bitter about losing to Ben Whittaker (9-0-1, 6 KOs) by what many fans felt was a hasty second-round stoppage by referee Howard Foster in their rematch at light heavyweight on Sunday night at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
Upbeat Despite Loss
After the fight, Cameron was upbeat about his defeat, saying, “It is what it is,” and he’s looking forward to purchasing a “house” with the money he made tonight. He says he earned a “fortune” from his rematch with the 2020 Olympic Silver medalist Whittaker.
It looked to fans like the referee Foster pulled the plug on the fight too soon after Whittaker backed Cameron, 34, against the ropes, and unloaded with a barrage of punches. The replays showed that well-skilled veteran Cameron had blocked most of Whittaker’s punches on his arms and gloves. Ben was overanxious, throwing shots without aiming them, and Cameron picked off virtually 90% of them.
“Don’t bother me. It is what it is. I can’t complain about it. It’s done. I just myself off and I get my house bought now,” said Liam Cameron to BoxNation about referee Howard Foster jumping in prematurely to stop the fight in the second in his rematch with Ben Whittaker tonight.
It should bother Cameron that his fight was stopped early by Foster because if he had been able to stay in the contest up to the sixth round, he could have worn Whittaker down again. He’s essentially a three-round fighter still, and has shown gas tank issues in his fights that extend beyond that.
Round Two Action
“Just happened. The fight happened too fast. It was crazy. That’s Ben’s night. Let him have his night. I don’t want to take nothing away from him. What a comeback. You just have to give it to him. A bit rushed. He was trying to keep me off, weren’t he,” said Liam when asked how the first round went.”
Cameron doesn’t need to complain about the results because the fans have done the job for him. They’re not happy with the referee waving it off so quickly. Some of them believe that if the shoe were on the other foot and it was Cameron who was unloading on the A-side fighter Whittaker against the ropes, the referee wouldn’t have stopped it.
“You can’t go back and say I can change something. I did it and that was it. Yeah, a bit sharper,” said Cameron when asked whether Whittaker was better tonight than in their previous fight on October 12th last year.
“He just said, ‘Oh, these fans don’t like me,'” said Liam about what Ben told him after the fight. “One day they might [like Whittaker]. It might be another fight. You just have to have the right moment.”
