Boxing
Ben Whittaker sends out 'Royal Rumble' challenge to Frank Warren's fighters ahead of New York City debut
Zayas vs. Ennis: Watch only on DAZN PPV - Saturday
Ben Whittaker makes his American debut this weekend as he looks to steal the show in New York City on a huge show headlined by the thrilling super-welterweight battle pitting Xander Zayas against Jaron Ennis .
Long seen as the future of British boxing, Whittaker is hoping to make a big impression with the stateside audience, but that hasn’t prevented from looking further ahead at some potential domestic showdowns that have the potential to be UK blockbusters.
Current speculation suggests that Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn are currently in negotiations to stage another Queensberry vs Matchroom event later this year following the success of their inaugural meeting back in 2024 when Warren ran out a 5-0 winner.
With both promotional groups heavily stacked at 175lbs, Matchroom’s Whittaker would have plenty of options if he was to find a spot on the show, but is that an opportunity the Wolverhampton man would welcome at such a crucial stage in his career?
"Yeah, we might as well just do a Royal Rumble man,” said Whittaker during an exclusive sitdown with DAZN News ahead of his fight with Richard Rivera this Saturday night.
“I don't know if Matchroom's got a lot of light-heavies but just put me in there. Put three or four of their best guys and we'll just swing it out man. You know what I mean?
"I think the Saudi guys would like that. Royal Rumble in the light-heavyweight division. Let's do that man.”
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Amongst Queensberry's long list of light-heavyweight contenders is Anthony Yarde, Joshua Buatsi, Willy Hutchinson, and Zach Parker, so finding a suitable opponent for Whittaker if the show does go ahead should not be a difficult task.
All those aforementioned names would relish the chance to take on Whittaker considering he is the British fighter being groomed for superstardom by Hearn, but who would the 2020 Olympian prefer to face when assessing Warren’s fighters?
“Whoever makes the most money man, of course. I don't really listen to the fans, but whoever the fans would like to see, but at the end of the day, I think I could beat them all. I think I could beat them all, I've got the skills too.
“But first, like I said, I've gotta get through this fight first before we start thinking about that. But line them up man, knock them down.”
Zayas vs. Ennis - watch only on DAZN
Xander Zayas defends his WBO and WBA super welterweight titles against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis on Saturday, June 27, exclusively live on DAZN. Buy as a one-off PPV or included, along with Joshua vs. Prenga (July 25) and Canelo vs. M'billi (Sept 12) PPVs, with a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription.
