Extravagant Ben Whittaker is captivating the boxing world –  whether he’s engaging with the audience mid-fight or walking to the ring with a bunch of ballerinas… but beneath his flamboyant antics lies a much deeper story

Whether he’s spinning around on one leg, engaging with the audience mid-fight or walking to the ring with a bunch of ballerinas, Ben Whittaker’s captivating presence in the boxing world is undeniable.

Emulating the extravagant style of Prince Naseem Hamed, Whittaker has become a household name and garnered an impressive one million Instagram followers despite having just seven professional fights.

But, beneath the ostentatious ring walks and flamboyant showboating lies a deeper story – one of vulnerability and authenticity. A side to Whittaker no one has seen until now.

In the rustic confines of his gym, hidden behind a workman’s club in Wolverhampton, Whittaker broke down in tears as he recounted the painful experience of missing his grandmother’s funeral to pursue his Olympic dreams.

‘People see my skills but they don’t really understand how hard I work and the things I have sacrificed to be here,’ Whittaker told Mail Sport in a raw and emotionally charged interview.

‘We went to a training camp in Turkey while I was part of the GB set up. My grandma sadly passed away and I was very close to her. So it was incredibly hard.

‘I actually made the decision not to go to the camp, but my dad said your grandma would want you to go. I’m actually getting a bit emotional thinking about it now. It was really hard.’

Whittaker was selected for the Olympic Games at aged 24 and took home the silver medal after going three rounds with a Cuban boxer of great pedigree, Arlen Lopez, in the final.

But, Whittaker kept his head down throughout the medal ceremony and when his name was announced he collected his silver and stuffed it into his pocket, causing quite the controversy.

‘That’s the thing. Not many people knew [my grandmother had passed away] when I was on the podium. I didn’t want to take the silver medal because I had missed her funeral to be there to win gold.’

Whittaker paused, visibly overcome with emotion, before summoning the strength to continue.

‘Sorry, I’ve not thought about it since so when you said it, it brought back all the emotions. That’s part of a boxer’s life, you have to cut things out and sacrifice so much. It’s sad because I had to watch the funeral through FaceTime. It was a really hard and sad moment in my life, but it’s what opened the door for me.’

Whittaker’s life did change after the Olympic Games. He was snapped up by Ben Shalom’s promotional company Boxxer, began featuring on Sky Sports shows and amassed one million Instagram followers after capturing the nation’s attention with his showboating.

However, boxing wasn’t Whittaker’s first love. He dreamt of being a footballer. But, after collecting more red cards than goals, he realised the referee’s whistle wasn’t his friend and traded in his boots for boxing gloves instead.

‘I picked up a few of red cards in a couple of Cup Finals. You know, talking a bit of rubbish. It gets a bit heated and you snap them and stuff. But, I didn’t know back then that you had to pay for the cards. So when we started racking up the fines my dad said to me you aren’t playing anymore.

‘You have to pay subs and then the fines for the red cards so yeah we just got out of there and got stuck into boxing. It keeps you grounded, keeps you humble. If you got out of line, you got hit with a jab in the nose so it’s good for kids to get into to burn off energy and things like that.’

Despite taking up boxing, Whittaker still found ways to land himself in hot water. So, his dad demanded he got a job.

‘I had two jobs after being kicked out of school for the ADHD. I wasn’t a naughty kid but if it was quiet I had to do something. I had to make people laugh or do something silly. There were other situations that got me into trouble too. I couldn’t read the best so I would mess around to save the embarrassment.

‘Then my dad said you need to do something because you’re not making money with boxing at the moment. So I went to JD but my social skills were terrible. I couldn’t really speak to people. I know you wouldn’t believe it with the ring walls and stuff.

‘I used to hide in the toilet. I could hear over the walkie-talkie ‘Whittaker where are you’. I got found in the toilets and that was it, I was sacked. My dad said right you’re going to work at your local football club, Wolverhampton.

‘They said to me, you can’t eat in front of the fans. So, me thinking I’m clever, I used to take the meal voucher, a Coca-Cola and sit in the toilet and eat my food. Not the cleanest but I had to get it done. I got caught twice and got sacked.

‘I went home and luckily the week after that I got called onto the GB team. I was like oh well! God’s plan I guess. I got onto the Great Britain team and they said one of you guys here in the next four to five years will be an Olympian. There you go, the rest is history.’

Whittaker likened GB boxing to a ‘prison,’ where instead of inmates, they had sparring partners and the guards were coaches who kept him in line with early morning circuits.

‘Even though GB was a bit like a prison, it was exactly what I needed at the time. It was disciplined. You’re away from your family every single week. You are isolated in the house all the time. It’s part of the journey as well.

‘For me, I had nothing else going on in my life. It really made a difference for me, being able to train 24/7. Being with a team that can help you with your nutrition and get you in a routine of running in the morning. It changed my life.’

Despite boxing being a life-changer for Whittaker, his mum still can’t bear the thought of him getting hurt. She’ll only watch his fights if the opponent looks less like a towering heavyweight and more like a friendly neighborhood sparring partner.

‘When I box I have twinkle toes so I have to thank my mum for putting me into ballet and into dance. But, honestly, when I came back and told her I was boxing she was gutted. Even now she doesn’t like it.

‘I don’t think any mother likes to see their son getting hit. She’s asked me before if I can do something else. But, she’s seen the dedication and she’s seen how serious I am about it so, like a mother can, she’s tried to believe in me as much as she can. She cooks my meals and washes my clothes, looking after me like a mother does.

‘But, I went to Liverpool for the national championships and I actually gave the kid a standing count. My mum, bless her, thought it was me. She ran up to the ring crying and going crazy. My dad used to be in my corner then and he kept saying to her, go back to the seat!

‘Then the referee actually stopped it and the MC came on the mic and said can the women with the red hair move away from the ring. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.

‘Now all she does is watch the ring walk. She might watch the first round and go okay, I might watch it now. Or she doesn’t like the look of the opponent and won’t watch because he looks a bit scary. She’ll gauge it. If he looks scary she’ll watch the highlights after. If he looks okay she will watch it.’

It’s completely understandable why Whittaker’s mother feels anxious watching him in the ring, especially given his penchant for showboating.

From lifting Greg O’Neil off the ground in his debut to spending a considerable portion of his bout against Jordan Grant chatting with the crowd, fighting with his hands down against Vladimir Belujsky, dancing around the ring against Stiven Dredhaj, and spinning around in circles against Khalid Graidia, Whittaker’s unpredictable antics certainly keep spectators on the edge of their seats.

‘Showboating gets me in that rhythm and gets me in that flow. When I am in that flow, it’s very hard to beat me to be honest. If you come and watch me do pads, sparring or even watch some of my old amateur fights when nobody was there, I did it there.

‘I think it’s just my style of boxing. It’s my way to express myself. A way to get into my rhythm. When I do it, I feel like I could beat anyone. It’s just my style, it’s not disrespectful or anything. It’s just a different type of boxing that no one has seen before.’

Whittaker’s ring walks are equally flamboyant. He has drawn inspiration from Nas’ famous entrance against Kevin Kelley in New York, walked out to the tunes of Michael Jackson, and even danced alongside a group of ballerinas in Bournemouth.

‘When I was on the Olympic team, that’s all I used to plan and prepare, my outfit and ring walk. When you were on the Olympic team it was the typical blue and red. It was pretty boring. It was obviously nice to wear your country’s vest and represent your country but I wanted to add a bit of flare.

‘So I used to write in my notepad that my first professional fight I would do this, my second professional fight I would do this and so on. For the fight this weekend, I have something great planned. All I have to do is go and perform. Obviously it adds a bit more pressure but I like it.’

But who were Whittaker’s childhood heroes? None other than Floyd Mayweather and Tommy Hearns, of course. What kid doesn’t dream of being as flashy as Floyd and as powerful as Hearns?

‘I remember years ago I went for a little caravan holiday in Devon and it was actually the year of Amir Khan’s Olympics. I didn’t really like boxing if I’m honest but I came into the front room to be with my dad.

‘The fight that really caught my eye was Amir Khan’s final against Mario Kindelan, a Cuban. The style and the way he made it look so easy. The way he hit and didn’t get hit. The way he swaggered around the ring. I thought I like that.

‘That’s a completely different style of boxing so I stayed in touch with that fighter after. I watched him on YouTube. He was my first idol. Then there was people like Tommy Hearns, Floyd Mayweather and my favourite professional boxer, before he went down the wrong path, was Adrian Broner. So, it makes a lot of sense.’

Whittaker will return to the ring on Easter Sunday and look to not only scalp another opponent but put on a memorable performance for the O2 crowd on the Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke undercard.