Wolverhampton’s Ben Whittaker moved his unbeaten record to four without defeat after stopping Vladimir Belujsky in the eighth round of his first eight-round contest. The fight was aired live on Sky Sports and was being held at the Manchester Arena on the undercard of the Marshall, Dezurm contest promoted by Boxxer promotions (1.6.23). Twenty-six-year-old Whittaker who won an Olympic silver medal as an amateur came into this contest with three wins with two stoppages. His opponent Belujsky (27) originally from Slovakia now fighting out if Mitchelstown, Ireland has a positive record of thirteen wins one draw out of Twenty contests with nine of his wins coming via knockout. Whittaker weighed in twelve stone seven with Belujsky coming in twelve stone six with Mark Lyson reffing.
Whittaker started the first round sharply with some fast heavy jabs and was showcasing his skills well, but it wasn’t long before he started showboating and playing up to the crowd. Whittaker again got some sharp hurtful combinations off in the second going to the head and body well with Belujsky standing strong and absorbing Whittaker’s onslaught. Whitaker shot out fast combinations in the third dropping Belujsky with a triple right hook, Belujsky got up and saw the round out. Whittaker seemed to take the fourth round off sticking out a nice jab with Belujsky a few shots go, Whittaker took the round finishing it with a strong final minute.
Rounds five, six, and seven were all Whittaker’s rounds with him back on it and showcasing his talents picking great shots and nice combinations. In the final round Whittaker cane out either intent catching Belujsky with a cracking right hand that hurt Belujsky, the Slovakian held on for dear life, and when the ref split them Whittaker then caught him with a lovely combination with ref Mark Lyson jumping in and stopping the fight.
Dexter’s Thoughts
Another great performance by Ben Whittaker who showcased a variety of shots and combinations against a very game fighter. He also showed that he can fo the round nearly completing the eight and ending it with a great stoppage. It is obvious that he is too good for the fighters he is put up against and really needs to be moved up got a few levels with them talking about him contesting for the English light heavyweight title. The current English Light-Heavyweight champ is Ricky Summers which I’m sure would be a cracking contest with both fighters being from the Black Country but feel Whittaker needs one or two more eight or ten-round fights before he steps up to English title contention. There are some good light Heavyweights out there at the English standard which would be good tests for Whittaker like Mickey Ellison, Leon Williams, Joel Mcintyre, and Karol Itawma but I think that another Midland fighter would be a cracker. Twenty-seven-year-old Musa Moyo is ranked thirteenth in Britain and is unbeaten in six contests, I think this would be the perfect opponent for Whittaker who is ranked fifteenth This fight could easily be made and would be a cracking Midlands light Heavyweight area title but is held by Michael Stephenson who is ranked 37th in Britain. Whatever way he chooses to go I’m sure with Boxxer Promotions behind him he will be guided in the right direction.