By Steven Cummings
Light heavyweight Ben Whitaker clowned and postured his way through nine rounds on Saturday in an IBF eliminator before facing the dangers of his shortcomings, but ultimately escaped with a unanimous decision victory over Colin Wallace. Official scores were 117-110, 116-112 and 115-113.
The silliness of the overhyped Whittaker (13-0-1, 9 KOs) worked for the bulk of the fight. But Wallace (17-2, 12 KOs) found the egregiously exposed chin of Whittaker in round 10 and turned the tide for the rest of the fight. The 12th round saw a clean knockdown of Whittaker that wasn’t scored as such, after two powerful lefts, and the wobbly legs of Whittaker made for a sloppy ending.
Whittaker showed he’s not for real. Wallace did the bare minimum to get himself back in the game. He didn’t give up. Anybody on the world class level will get there much sooner. Whittaker carries his hands low, even when he’s not showboating, and his chin is advertised on every billboard in the world.
Post-fight comments indicated that Whittaker had covid recently. Whatever. That’s an excuse. The fight was today and it went how it went. It is hard to imagine that a top-level light heavyweight wouldn’t get Ben Whittaker wobbling around the ring much sooner.
