‘He’s a visionary’: Ben Whittaker is showboating his way to being Britain’s next boxing star

As Ben Whittaker steps into the ring at London's Bronx Boxing Gym ahead of his media workout on Thursday, heads instantly turn to catch a glimpse of England's latest rising star.

Whittaker (6-0 5 KOs) is used to turning heads by now. His last fight, in February, propelled him to international fame, not thanks to the fashionable knockout he scored against Khalid Gradia, but thanks to his showboating and extravagant style.

Jumping on one leg, spinning in circles, and talking to people outside the ring in the middle of a round are just some of the things Whittaker does to disorient his opponent and get the crowd moving. But it's not a gimmick.

“I started doing what I do when I got fitter; I started taking the sport more seriously,” Whittaker told ESPN on Thursday ahead of his next fight against compatriot Leon Willings (7- 1 2 KO) Sunday (Peacock, 1:00 p.m.). AND)

“It was like 'let me try this, let me try that' and then, you know, it became second nature. I've been doing this whole style since I was an amateur. I was [boxing] in the hallways when no one is there. Since my beginnings.”

His flamboyant antics attract the attention of even the most casual boxing fan. He gained 100,000 followers on Instagram overnight after his last fight and recently reached 1 million in total. It's every promoter's dream and BOXXER CEO Ben Shalom expects the hype to grow.

“Since his last fight, the amount of people who want to come see Ben Whittaker in the flesh and watch him is pretty incredible,” Shalom told ESPN. “He's a visionary. We saw that vision from the beginning. Every promotional company needs a superstar. You saw it with the UFC and Conor McGregor, you saw it with other companies with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. We think he can surpass them all, that's how much we believe in him.”

Whittaker, 26, nicknamed “The Surgeon”, hopes his authentic style, combined with dedication, boxing ability and hunger, will propel him to a world title.

“Right now, I'm just showing what I want to show. There are so many other game plans we can go to,” Whittaker said. “When I need to, I take them off and I look dominant when I do. So next Sunday, it'll either be dominant or I'll hop on one leg, we'll see.”

Trips across the pond, where he spent time with boxing coaches SugarHill Steward, who trains Tyson Fury, and Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, who works with Terence Crawford, helped Whittaker discover a difference in mentality between Great Britain and the United States, where the boxers of nature like to show off more.

“I [first] “I went there when I was an amateur,” Whittaker said. “But when I turned professional, I did a lot of my camps there and being the so-called Olympic silver medalist, you're a prime candidate there to get an advantage. They talk a lot in sparring .Mentally, it builds your mindset.

“It's just sparring, but they say it to try to get under your skin, but if you let it, unfortunately, you'll get stepped on in this sport. Then I get the upper hand and they say 'd 'okay, this kid can fight.' '”

Responsible for making Whittaker this world champion is coach Joby Clayton, who believes Whittaker has all the tools necessary to reach the top.

“There’s a balance,” Clayton says. “As he progresses in his career, he will show that there is a balance. He will always showboat and probably the more he gets into his flow, the more those things come out. That's part of his magic, that’s part of his genius in my opinion.”

Genius got a glimpse in February against Gradia. Whittaker used extravagant dodges and dives to evade punches, disorient Gradia and return fire before his opponent realized what was happening.

“For me, there's a little bit of showboating where he's clapping himself. I come from an older generation, that's not necessarily the showboating I want to see,” Clayton said. “But there is another kind of showboating right in front of the opponent and it totally disorganizes [them] and catches them off guard. He creates different rhythms and different shapes that he can then exploit.

“Benjamin just does his thing, that's how he changes his rhythm, that's how he creates shapes, that's how he disorganizes the opponent. There's a real art to it and a real job doing what he does when he’s in his flow.”

Clayton's cries of “back to business” pepper Whittaker's ears during fights after he lets go. A reminder that there is always work to be done.

“That's part of my job is to let him know that it's time to get serious, to take care of this guy,” Clayton said.

He did so, winning all his fights. But Whittaker is the first to admit there's a long way to go.

“I'm relatively young, I have the speed, the style, everything that can take me to the top. The only thing that won't do it is myself,” Whittaker said. “I just have to stay dedicated, cut out the noise and focus on myself.”