Ben Whittaker: I'll Be World Champion Under Eddie Hearn! | Stick to Football EP 137
6/26/202638 min
Welcome back to Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Ben Whittaker joins Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright to discuss his rise in boxing, being labelled the sport's villain, and why he decided to sign with Eddie Hearn.
Ben opens up about the criticism he's received for his showboating style, responds to Prince Naseem Hamed's comments, explains why he believes he's destined to become a world champion, and names David Benavidez as the opponent he wants to face next at Wembley Stadium.
The panel also discuss Ben's footballing comparisons, from Lamine Yamal and Michael Olise to his favourite player, Cesc Fàbregas, before Gary steps up for a light-hearted sparring lesson with the unbeaten light-heavyweight.
Elsewhere, Ben reveals why Floyd Mayweather is the greatest boxer of all time, explains why he stays away from partying, discusses the financial side of boxing, and shares why he believes Eddie Hearn is the right promoter to take him to the very top.
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18+. T&Cs apply.
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0:00 - Intro & Meeting Ben Whittaker
2:40 - Which Footballer Would Ben Be?
3:15 - Ben's Flamboyant Boxing Style
6:14 - Origins of Ben's Boxing Style & His Dad's Influence
15:00 - Changing Promoters & The Boxing Landscape
17:22 - Sparring with Gary
18:45 - Greatest Boxer of All Time
21:31 - Dream Fights: Benavidez at Wembley
22:27 - British Rivals: Yarde & Buatsi
23:36 - Naseem Hamed Interview Controversy
26:19 - Longevity & Not Drinking
27:48 - Money, Bad Advice & Staying Smart
33:17 - Pundits & Media Criticism
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGary Neville· Host0:00
Just before we get started, I just wanted to say a big thank you to our partners, Sky Bet, and please don't forget to subscribe if you like. I hope you enjoy this episode. Uh, Ben's outside if you want him... Do you want bring him in? Outside the store? He's out the door, yeah. Okay. Get, get- Come in, come in ... let's get Ben in. Get Ben in.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:13
Yo.
Gary Neville· Host0:14
Where's Ben?
Ian Wright· Panelist0:14
Champ, where's the champ?
Gary Neville· Host0:15
Here he is.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:16
Woo.
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:16
What you saying, big man?
Gary Neville· Host0:17
How are you? Nice to see you.
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:19
Nice.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:20
Nice to meet you, Ben.
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:21
What you saying, brother?
Ian Wright· Panelist0:21
Real pleasure, man.
Gary Neville· Host0:21
How are you, mate?
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:22
Hiya.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:22
Yeah, right.
Gary Neville· Host0:22
Nice to see you. You okay?
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:23
I'm good.
Gary Neville· Host0:23
Good.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:24
Jesus.
Gary Neville· Host0:24
Say hello, Roy.
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:25
How you doing? How you keeping?
Gary Neville· Host0:25
How are you?
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:26
Good.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:26
I'm totally, how you doing?
Gary Neville· Host0:27
Roy called me an egg the other day- [laughs] ... in the program. And so we've just been going through, uh, the best PG rated insults. PG. Like mug, weapon, tool. So you've got your... What, what, what's your, what's your favorite insult at you? [laughs] Ben can say. You can swear, Ben.
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:44
I don't know if it is PG, man.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:46
It's not, it might not be PG, Ben, we- It, it can be PG.
Gary Neville· Host0:48
We went on to- But my dad, my dad used to just call me a jamfu.
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:50
That's...
Gary Neville· Host0:51
A what? Jamf- A jamfu.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:53
A jamfu?
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:54
Yeah.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:54
[laughs] What does it mean?
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:55
With a Jamaican accent.
Gary Neville· Host0:56
What's that mean?
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:56
Yeah, know what I mean? So jamfu.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:58
A jankra.
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:58
Yeah.
Gary Neville· Host0:58
Jamfu.
Ben Whittaker· Guest0:59
Jankra.
Ian Wright· Panelist0:59
[laughs] The jankra. That's like one of them... That's like a vulture in, in, in Jamaica, like them birds, like scavenger bird. Jamkra.
Gary Neville· Host1:07
[laughs] I was thinking as well, man, you're good. Unbelievable. Ben, do you know something? I've got, like, a massive crush on you. I, I'm on YouTube all the time. And do you know the algorithm?
Ben Whittaker· Guest1:15
Yeah, yeah.
Gary Neville· Host1:16
And you come on my, all the time. Just- Ah, appreciate it, man ... ma- Bro ... it's crazy. It's, yeah.
Ian Wright· Panelist1:20
I want... Roy, you needed to see, obviously- It's unbelievable- I don't care ...
Gary Neville· Host1:23
what he does in a ring, honestly.
Ben Whittaker· Guest1:24
That's lovely.
Unknown speaker1:25
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