Ben Whittaker bursts into tears in press conference after beating Liam Cameron as he opens up on abuse
BEN WHITTAKER burst into tears in his press conference after beating Liam Cameron.
The boxer opened up on the online abuse he was subjected to following his withdrawal from the clash with Cameron last October.
Whittaker, 27, was slammed as a “quitter” by members of the boxing fraternity.
It came after he withdrew from the fight following a fall over the top rope in the fifth round.
As a result he was met with loud boos on his walk to the ring to face Cameron in their rematch on Sunday night.
But it was Whittaker who finished the victor following the rematch with Cameron.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist stopped his rival in just the second round at the BP Pulse Live Arena in Birmingham.
Following the fight, he opened up on what had been a tough six months, which saw him burst into tears in an emotional press conference.
He said: “Truthfully, nothing has changed if I’m honest.
“I knew I should be doing that to people like Liam Cameron, no disrespect, but it was the six months out.
“Stuff like my brother had two daughters, I couldn’t really enjoy it too much because of what I was going through online.
“And it didn’t really bother me, but even close friends, people that I classed as family, left me.
“They had a lot to say about me, but it was a great time to go back to the old Ben Whittaker.“
Whittaker also admitted that he became humbled in the six months following the first fight with Cameron.
He made a change as he replaced his coach, Joby Clayton, with Andy Lee at the Ballbrack Boxing Club in Dublin.
He added: “Before the Olympics, I locked in, I trained hard and I dedicated the sport.
“My life was moving at 100 miles per hour. Like I say, I come from a humble household where not a lot of stuff was given to us, so to be in the position where everything is coming at me at free will, it was amazing.
“But that six months out really humbled me, got me closer to God, and the small people around me are just what I needed.
“I went to the gym daily, took away the cameras, took away the social media and just got back to the old Ben.
“I want to thank my church as well, Living Hope, because I went through that door very quietly and kept myself to myself, and they brought the old Ben out of me.
“I got a text from Andy Lee. A lot of people were laughing behind my back, but he came to me and said, ‘Come to Ireland, and I truly believe we can get the old Ben Whittaker back’.
“We trained hard, and after a couple of days he said ‘You’re going to knock him out’.
“And I just believed in him, he believed in me, and I went out there and did what I was supposed to do in Saudi.”
Meanwhile, Sunday’s fight was filled with controversy as Whittaker also had to deny spitting at Cameron’s trainer.
He was almost slapped by the trainer after he had showboated in his face.