When the final punches flew in, when Liam Cameron sagged into the ropes, when the referee stepped in to end it, Ben Whittaker could roar with relief, with exhilaration and the sheer thrill of ending a rivalry with an emphatic rematch victory.
He halted Cameron in the second round. Whittaker then ran across the ring, poked his head through the ropes as he bellowed at one of Cameron’s cornermen, Grant Smith, who swiped out with his hand.
There were no further incidents after as the wild scenes calmed.
“I just let my emotions out. A lot of people don’t know what I’ve been through. A lot of people had a lot of things to say about me, was posting a lot about me,” Whittaker told Sky Sports.
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Johnny Nelson and Dave Coldwell disagreed on whether Ben Whittaker had crossed the line with his ring celebrations following victory over Liam Cameron.
“There was just so much coming out. It wasn’t really beating him, it was beating myself.”
His first fight with Cameron came to an abrupt end when both men tumbled out of the ring. But, despite his injuries from the fall, Whittaker was criticised afterwards for not continuing.
It placed him under intense pressure going into Saturday’s rematch at the bp pulse LIVE arena in Birmingham.
“You saw my emotions after,” Whittaker said. “I thought I could stop him. It was the emotion I’ve gone through. A lot of people had a lot to say. That was the hardest part, getting back in there after what happened.
“I’m just human, anything can happen, the one good thing I kind of like is, not a lot of people would have probably taken the rematch straightaway but I knew I could do that to him. I knew I could do that to him. So I wanted to show it straight away, I didn’t want to be one of these fighters that [think] let me get an easy fight, get back in there.
“A lot of people could have taken a different fight, but I wanted him to prove to myself I am that guy.
“The build-up, I was lot more quiet this time because I knew the work I’ve done. I thought ‘let him talk, let him talk’, and he talked his way into a beating sadly.”
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Ben Whittaker’s full interview after he beat Liam Cameron and his post-fight clash with his opponent’s corner.
For Whittaker, the perfect retort to the doubts and barbed questions that had shrouded his reputation since the first Cameron fight was that ruthless and rapid finish.
“When I hit him with that shot, even he said he’s never been hit like that before. I saw his legs go. Everyone was saying calm down, but I just saw it. I saw it. I said he’s not getting away now. And I just let them go,” Whittaker explained.
“I thought ‘I’ve hit him in the right spot’. I could just see his whole face go and I thought ‘it’s now, it’s now.”
He and Grant Smith, father of boxer Dalton Smith, have also resolved any differences from the bout’s immediate aftermath.
Whittaker shakes hands with Grant Smith in the changing room
Whittaker said: “It was just the emotion, I was like: ‘Yeah, come on!’ If a bit of dribble came out… He knows I’d never do something like that.
“Dalton’s dad, he came in [to the changing room] we had a good talk.
“We had a hug and a photo. We’ve known each from Juniors [when Whittaker was a teenage amateur], me and Dalton have come through the ranks together. It was good.”
Liam Cameron had no issue with any of the post-fight antics.
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Ben Whittaker stops Liam Cameron in the second round of their highly-anticipated rematch.
“I don’t know what it were, I don’t get involved in it. I don’t get into trouble,” he told Sky Sports.
“I can’t say a bad word about Ben. He’s changed my life. It took two to tango. I put up a good fight the first one, got paid a fortune for this one.”
Whether Cameron wanted to fight on or not, he raised no objections with the timing of the referee’s stoppage.
“I’m not going to complain about anything,” he said.
“If I’m winning in life, boxing’s just nothing, is it? Boxing’s my job, I’m not going to take that [disappointment] into my normal life.”
Watch Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn on Saturday live on Sky Sports Box Office.
