Before their first fight in October, Liam Cameron was a relatively unknown commodity, brought in to be the next stepping stone in Ben Whittaker’s professional career.
However, as the rounds went by in Riyadh, it quickly became apparent that Liam Cameron was giving Ben Whittaker more problems than most anticipated.
As the fight entered the fifth round and Cameron had more success, the pair clinched and flew over the ropes as the round ended.
After the incident, Ben Whittaker was unable to continue due to injury. The fight then went to the scorecards where it was a draw.
Before their highly anticipated rematch on Sunday, when the pairs domestic clash is the headliner in Birmingham, Cameron recently appeared on the ‘Ariel x Ade’ show to preview his upcoming fight against the Olympic silver medallist.
“This is life-changing for me it’s mega, mega-stardom for me in my own head. Its everything for me.
‘This is life or death’, says Liam Cameron ahead of his rematch against Ben Whittaker–
“It is, in a way, life or death in boxing. Do you know what it is? It’s one fight at a time (but) this is how much I want to win this fight — if I could win (just) one more (fight) in my life, and lose every single one of them (after that), it’d be this one.”
Due to the nature in which their first fight ended, many boxing fans were critical of Ben Whittaker and felt he ‘quit’ when he chose to not continue.
Cameron recalled this by saying:
“I can remember thinking, I’m going to start (going through the gears), he’s unraveling — I’m going to stop him.
“So I (stepped on the) gas a bit and hit him with some body shots, and he fell off balance, and he’s falling (onto) me.
“Then he’s hitting me low, he’s holding a lot, he’s spitting his gum shield out, and [the fall out of the ring] just happened so fast.
“It’s like when you’re having a hard spar sometimes, it’s horrible, (isn’t) it? And you’re tired — and that’s what it (was) like for Ben.
“He didn’t want (any) part (of the fight), his emotions got to him, he (was) looking all over.
“I study body language and stuff — I watched everything of that fight, and he (was) like a rabbit in the headlights. Even in (the) corner, he got (the) shock of his life.”
The number of rounds fiasco
The controversy in the Liam Cameron and Ben Whittaker rivalry does not stop there.
Cameron also revealed that in the lead up to the rematch, there has been an issue with the contracts as to how many rounds there will be.
“What happened is we signed for a 12-round contract.” Cameron said.
“When I (was) signing, I thought, ‘This is a bit strange.’ (Whittaker was) tired after five (rounds) the last time, and this is (for) a 12, it (doesn’t) make sense.
“Then obviously, a week later, it happened. (Promoter BOXXER was) saying, ‘Can we do 10 (rounds)? There’s been a mishap (with the contract), and will Liam do a 10 (round fight) now?’ And we’ve been saying no.”
Whilst the number of rounds may not be certain, one thing that is for certain is that British boxing fans are in for a treat this Easter Sunday.
Featured image credit to Embed from Getty Images
