Charismatic Ben Whittaker has admitted that Jose Benavidez, father and trainer of light heavyweight star David Benavidez, has contacted him about a future fight with his son.
Benavidez is a couple of years younger than Whittaker but has had in excess of 20 more pro fights than the Englishman, who claimed silver in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Benavidez, however, is set to move up to cruiserweight to face Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez on Cinco de Mayo in Las Vegas.
“Fair play to him, he's trying to chase greatness,” Whittaker told BoxingScene.
“Even his dad messaged me the other day on Instagram, [saying] ‘We'd love to have the fight.’ So, it shows I'm doing something right in 11 fights. But for me, a bit more experience, got a bit more things to do, and I think that'll be a very big fight, maybe in Wembley.”
One would imagine that a showman like Whittaker would be talking about beating all comers, but he’s modest enough to know he needs more reps, more fights, more activity as his journey continues.
“At the end of the day, skill-wise, I believe I'm better than the whole division,” the Andy Lee-trained Whittaker said. “But at the end of the day, I've not been in fights where I might be cut, I might be hurt, I might be this and that. At the end of the day, I've had 11 fights. You look at Benavidez, he's had 32 fights. So at the end of the day, I've had an amateur experience, not a pro experience. He’s been pro since he was a teenager. So for me, people can say what they want to say, but when I get my experience, and I start beating everybody, they can’t say much…”
“At the end of the day, I got respect for them. But I don't want to be a number. I don't want to get there and just, ‘Oh, he put on a good fight.’
“If I go there, I'm going to beat them, which I believe I can. And like I said, a couple more fights, go around the world, try different styles. And when I get in there, I will beat them.”
Whittaker is 28 but just 10-0-1 (7 KOs) as a pro, while Benavidez is 29 but 31-0 (25 KOs) and ranked by some as a pound-for-pounder.
