Ben Whittaker never doubted that the win would come and in grand style.
How his body would react to fighting for the first time in 360 days was an entirely separate matter.
The charismatic Brit enjoyed a successful pro debut with a second-round knockout of Greg O’Neill as part of a Sky Sports show from Bournemouth, England.
“It was good. I’m my own [worst] critic,” Whittaker told IFL TV. “The first round, I was forcing it a little bit. It was my first fight since the Olympics. First fight since the surgery. Shook off a little ring rust. Second round, bam it’s done. Onto the next.”
The fight was his first since claiming a silver medal for Great Britain during the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics last summer in Tokyo. His entrance into the pro ranks was delayed due to recovering from shoulder surgery performed upon his return home last August, eventually signing with BOXXER where he joined Olympic teammates Frazer Clarke and Caroline Dubois, both of whom won via knockout on Saturday, along with Karriss Artingstall and Lauren Price on the growing roster.
Whittaker surrounded himself with a dream team of talent. The 25-year-old from West Bromwich is managed by Anthony Joshua’s 258 MGT company and trained by SugarHill Steward, even sporting the famed Kronk colors for his pro debut—and heeding his wisdom when it mattered most.
“The first round, I was having a bit too much fun,” admitted Whittaker. “Sugar just said to put that stiff jab on him and land that right hand over it. That’s what I did. Landed that right hand on the temple, seen him go down like a bowl of jelly, man. I was happy.”
There is very loose talk of Whittaker (1-0, 1KOs) returning as soon as August 20, on the undercard of Joshua’s rematch with WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13KOs) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
